Shortage of mucormycosis medicine in Maharashtra: Rajesh Tope

As many as 90 people have died of the fungal infection mucormycosis in Maharashtra so far and there is a shortage of a key medicine needed to treat it state public health minister Rajesh Tope said on WednesdayMore than 200 patients of mucormycosis also called Black Fungus were detected in the last one week and he had urged the Union government to increase the supply of AmphotericinB injection which is used in its treatment he saidSo far 90 people have died due to mucormycosis in Maharashtra It is seriousit should not be taken lightly he told reporters here without specifying the period during which these deaths were reportedThe rare but fatal fungal infection is seen mostly in Covid19 patients or survivorsAlso Read Mumbai cops raise Rs 30 lakh for colleague battling mucormycosisIndiscriminate use of steroids to treat Covid19 patients should be avoided the minister addedMaharashtra in the last week added some 200 to 500 patients of mucormycosis Of 1500 patients detected so far some 500 have recovered while another 800 to 850 are still under treatment the minister saidThe state needs 150 lakh to two lakh vials of AmphotericinB right now but has received only 16000 from the Centre he claimedThe available vials have been disbursed to all the districts as per the number of mucormycosis patients in each district he saidThe Centre entirely controls the allocation of the medicine he saidMaharashtra has placed an order for 190 lakh vials of the medicine but delivery is the problem because its supply is controlled by the union government Our demand is do anything but give more vials to Maharashtra because cases of Black Fungus infection are on rise Tope saidTwo companies are going to supply the medicine to Maharashtra after May 31 therefore the next 10 days are critical he saidHe had spoken to Mansukh Mandaviya Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers and asked him to increase the supply of raw material for the medicine Tope saidThere are some pharma units in Wardha and Palghar districts where the medicine can be made From one kilogram of raw material 20000 injections of AmphotericinB can be produced he saidThe state has made two kg of raw material available but it takes 2025 days to manufacture the injection Tope addedThe state government has decided to bear the cost of the treatment as well as medicines for mucormycosis patients irrespective of their income levels he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever