The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has requested the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to restrict the pack of Diclofenac for human use in single dose only. Even after banning the use of Diclofenac for veterinary use, the multi-dose vials available in the market for human use were widely misused for veterinary purpose. This, in turn, has a severe impact on the population of vultures. Earlier, in 2006, the Government of India had imposed a ban on the use of Diclofenac for treating cattle.
The commonly-used anti-inflammatory drug for cattle is considered the chief cause for the steep decline in the number of vultures in recent years. The drug is harmless to the cattle it is administered to, but is fatal for the vultures, who routinely feed on the carcass of dead cattle. Studies have shown that the drug causes kidney and liver failure in vultures.
- Diclofenac was first synthesized by Alfred Sallmann and Rudolf Pfister and introduced as Voltaren by Ciba-Geigy (now Novartis) in 1973.
- The name “diclofenac” derives from its chemical name: 2-(2,6-dichloranilino) phenylacetic acid.
- Use of diclofenac in animals has been reported to have led to a sharp decline in the vulture population in the Indian subcontinent – a 95% decline by 2003[29] and a 99.9% decline by 2008.
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International Vulture Awareness Day is observed on
