Amphotericin supply from Centre too little for state

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Bhubaneswar: Even though the Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, DV Sadananda Gowda, Saturday said that the ministry has supplied 50 more vials of Amphotericin B injection to Odisha to help it fight mucormycosis or black fungus, the state government said that the supply the drug is too little as far as its demand is concerned.
The state, which is struggling to get the scarce injection, is not likely to get the drug directly from the manufacturers as the Centre has exclusive control over its supply.
According to the office of the State Drug Controller, the state received 50 vials of Amphotericin B injection from the Union government for AIIMS, Bhubaneswar while another 100 vials, which will be used in state-run government hospitals, are in pipeline.
“We received 50 vials of the injection which will go to AIIMS, Bhubaneswar while another 100 vials will go to the state government hospitals for the treatment of the disease. However, these will not be enough for the patients suffering from black fungus in the state,” said Annada Das, State Drug Controller.
He also said that a black fungus infected person needs at least 40 vials for the treatment of the disease. According to the Union government, Odisha has seen a total of 15 cases of black fungus or mucormycosis.
According to sources at the state Health department, direct procurement of the injection from the manufacturers now hangs in balance due to the control of the Union government over the drug.
“We have recently floated a tender for procurement of 5,000 vials of the drug from the manufacturers. However, it seems that the process is likely to be affected. Saturday, I talked to one of the manufacturers and I was told that the procurement from the manufacturers will be made by the Union government and the Centre will provide it to the state,” a Health department official told Orissa POST, requesting anonymity.
Amidst the apparent dearth of the scarce injection, the mucormycosis patients and their family members are now making frantic appeals to several people on social media to help them with supply of the scarce drug.
Notably, Jayant Panda from the Department of Medicine at SCB Medical College and Hospital, in a government sponsored programme last week, claimed that the state has adequate supply of the drug.