New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting to ensure the assured supply of essential medicines for the treatment of mucormycosis (black fungus) and to cover the disease in Ayushman Bharat and other health insurance plans.
“The Government of India has just asked the States to declare mucormycosis as an epidemic under the Epidemic Diseases Act. This means that there must be an adequate production and assured supply of essential medicines to treat it and cost-free patient care for those in need of treatment,” the letter read.
“I understand that Liposornal Amphotericin-E1 is absolutely essential for the treatment of Mucorniycosis However, there are reports of its acute scarcity in the market Further, the illness is not covered in Ayushman Bharat and most other health insurance products. I would request you to kindly take immediate action on this matter to bring relief to the large number of patients being afflicted by Mucormycosis,” it added.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=TIMESNOW&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=eyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1395995790590365698&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.timesnownews.com%2Findia%2Farticle%2Fsonia-gandhi-writes-to-pm-modi-over-anti-fungal-drug-shortage-urges-to-cover-mucormycosis-in-ayushman-bharat%2F760307&sessionId=6465f086b69eecc32e28ff541f13b1c831782f0b&siteScreenName=TIMESNOW&theme=light&widgetsVersion=82e1070%3A1619632193066&width=550px
India sees spike in black fungus cases
The Congress chief’s appeal comes at a time when there has been a sharp spike in cases of black fungus among COVID patients in the country.
On Friday, PM had warned against the “new challenge of black fungus” and said there was a need of precaution and preparation to deal with it. His remarks came at an interaction with the doctors, paramedical staff, and other frontline health workers of Varanasi over the challenges posed by the pandemic.
“In our ongoing fight against COVID-19, a new challenge of black fungus has surfaced. We must focus on precaution and preparation to deal with it,” the Prime Minister had said.
