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LG asks officials to assess stock, requirement of black fungus drug in capital
He also directed officials to address any additional and prospective logistical requirements in hospitals with regard to the treatment of black fungus at the earliest, they said.
Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Monday directed officials to undertake a real-time assessment and review of the requirement of drugs needed to treat black fungus in city hospitals and ensure their “immediate procurement”, senior officials from the L-G’s office said.
He also directed officials to address any additional and prospective logistical requirements in hospitals with regard to the treatment of black fungus at the earliest, they said.
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said Delhi has around 500 cases of black fungus. “For black fungus, we have made three centres at LNJP, Rajiv Gandhi, and GTB Hospitals, but there is no medicine. We did not receive the medicine yesterday, so how can we treat the patients without the medicine,” he said on the sidelines of his visit to an oxygen depot in Mayapuri on Monday.
“The injection is administered four to five times a day, if we are not given the injection, how can we treat the patient? This illness has emerged suddenly and there is a shortage of its medicine in the market, so the Centre is distributing medicines to all the states,” he said.
The chief minister urged the Centre to increase production of Amphotericin B.
“We need 2,000 injections every day, but we are receiving only around 400-500 injections,” he said.
Baijal also asked for “a robust and effective system” to ensure proper screening, diagnosis, reporting and treatment of the disease, including the availability of essential drugs and health care facilities in accordance with the protocol and guidelines of the Union health ministry, needs to be put in place across both government and private hospitals.
“Simultaneously, the L-G said, steps may also be taken to disseminate information about the infection, its prevention and cure amongst the general public to avoid any situation of panic,” the official from the L-G’s office quoted above said.
