Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS)

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) has demanded a ban on using aceclofenac in cattle after a new study showed that the drug metabolises into diclofenac in water buffaloes — as it does in cows.

• IVRI and its collaborators conducted the study and found that aceclofenac was rapidly converted to diclofenac while injecting the same water buffaloes.
• Such metabolisms pose a threat to vulture populations in the country. 
• The drug caused accidental poisoning in raptors after they fed on carcasses of cattle injected with it. 
• Aceclofenac in water buffaloes poses the same threat to vultures as it is a pro-drug of diclofenac.
• Aceclofenac is an unnecessary threat to the scavenging birds since safe alternatives — meloxicam and tolfenamic acid.

Initiatives by India

• The three drugs—aceclofenac, ketoprofen and nimesulide—were introduced as alternatives to diclofenac, that India banned in 2006 for animal use because it caused widespread vulture deaths.
• India is also a signatory to the Convention on Migratory Species’ Multi-species Action Plan to Conserve African-Eurasian Vultures, which recognises NSAIDS as a major threat to vultures in India.
• The vulture action plan recommends meloxicam over diclofenac. Tolfenamic acid is the other safe option.

Diclofenac 

• Anti-inflammatory drug was banned for veterinary use by the Government of India in 2006.
• It was found to be the main cause of a dramatic decline (99 per cent) of the vulture population across Asia.
• The drug caused accidental poisoning in raptors after they fed on carcasses of cattle injected with it.
• Aceclofenac in water buffaloes poses the same threat to vultures as it is a pro-drug of diclofenac.
• Vulture Action Plan 2020-2025 also mentions the drug as toxic, asking the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) to ban its veterinary use — along with other drugs like nimesulide and ketoprofen.