After India Stopped Using 'Overpriced' Faulty Rapid Test Kits, China Calls It Irresponsible Act
China has said that it was "deeply concerned" over the evaluation result of the COVID-19 rapid testing kits supplied to India by two Chinese companies which turned out to be faulty.?
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had on Monday asked states not to use the test kits procured from the Chinese companies Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech and Zhuhai Livzon Diagnosticsˇ± due to "wide variations" in their performance.?
A number of states, including Rajasthan and West Bengal, complained about the quality of the test kitsIndia procured around 500,000 rapid antibody test kits from the two Chinese firms nearly two weeks.?
In a communication, the ICMR asked states and union territories to return the kits to the central government so that they can be sent back to the suppliers.The government said not a single rupee will be lost as payments were not made to the Chinese suppliers of the kits.
The procurement of the kits from the two Chinese companies have been cancelled after the equipment were found under-performing, the government said.?
However, in a statement, Chinese embassy Spokesperson Ji Rong said, "We are deeply concerned with the evaluation results and the decision made by the Indian Council of Medical Research. China attaches great importance to the quality of exported medical products."?
In a statement, she also said it is "unfair and irresponsible for certain individuals to label Chinese products as 'faulty' and look at the issues with preemptive prejudice.""The COVID-19 antibody rapid test kits produced by these two Chinese companies have been exported to and well recognised in many countries in Europe, Asia and Latin America," Ji said.
"We have also learned that there are strict requirements for the storage, transportation and use of COVID-19 antibody rapid test kits. Any operation which is not carried out by professionals in accordance with the product specifications will lead to the testing accuracy variations," she added.?
What is even more concerning is the rate at which the faulty test kits were sold to India.The test kits were bought by the importer, Matrix, for Rs 245 from China and the distributors, Real Metabolics and Aark Pharmaceuticals sold it to ICMR for Rs 600 for each kit, which means a 140 percent markup.?
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Ashwini Choubey said that a meeting was held with the Health Ministers of the states in this context and assured that the Centre will provide good kits to all states.
