MK Stalin writes to centre, asks to ramp up supply of black fungus drug

M K Stalin said, "..the emergence of mucormycosis among the patients and sufficient supply of liposomal Amphotericin B, which is being allotted by the Government of India, are increasingly becoming critical issues which need urgent intervention."

The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday urged the Centre to allocate adequate number of Amphotericin B drug, used for treating black fungus disease, as the state detected 673 cases so far and the demand for the medication has 'increased manifold'.

So far, 673 cases of mucormycosis or black fungus have been detected in the state and hence the demand for "liposomal Amphotericin B has increased manifold, MK Stalin said. (HT Photo)

In a letter to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Chief Minister M K Stalin said, ".. the emergence of mucormycosis among the patients and sufficient supply of liposomal Amphotericin B, which is being allotted by the Government of India, are increasingly becoming critical issues which need urgent intervention."

With the state government declaring 'mucormycosis' as a 'notified disease', Stalin said Tamil Nadu has initiated large scale prevention efforts by creating greater awareness about its likely causes.

The state government has also set up mucormycosis clinics and dedicated wards in government hospitals.

So far, 673 cases of mucormycosis or black fungus have been detected in the state and hence the demand for "liposomal Amphotericin B has increased manifold", he said in the letter.

Noting that his government already placed orders for 35,000 vials of the anti-fungal drug, he said the supply was according to the allocation made by the Centre. ".. the state has received only 1,790 vials, which is woefully inadequate to treat the growing numbers of mucormycosis patients.

I would request you to kindly instruct the concerned officials to immediately allocate at least 30,000 vials to Tamil Nadu," the CM added.