The Centre has said that it is making all efforts to ensure no shortage of Amphotericin-B injections for treatment of Mucormycosis (black fungus). Meanwhile, three BJP-ruled states have placed global and domestic tenders for getting nearly one lakh such injections amid rising Mucormycosis cases.
This follows nearly a dozen states floating global tenders for vaccines amidst shortages.
Uttar Pradesh floated a domestic bid on May 14 for 10,000 injections of Amphotericin-B injections, an annual requirement which the state has increased over five times to 52,000 injections now through a corrigendum.
On May 25, the Madhya Pradesh government put out a global tender for procuring 30,000 Amphotericin B injections, saying in the document that “in view of the recent cases of Mucormycosis in COVID-19 patients in the state of Madhya Pradesh there is an urgent demand for Antifungal drugs.”
Madhya Pradesh has also asked for 50,000 tablets of anti-fungal drug Posaconazole and 10,000 injections of the same. Another BJP-ruled state, Haryana, on May 25 has invited global tenders as well for procuring 15,000 injections of Amphotericin B.
All three states have fixed quick deadlines for the supplies, showing urgency. Haryana has said it is opening bids on May 31 and Uttar Pradesh has already closed bids on May 20. Madhya Pradesh will close bids on Friday.
Maharashtra had last week also issued a global tender for 60,000 injections of Amphotericin-B and expects supplies from June. The country has around 12,000 patients suffering from Mucormycosis with about 2,800 cases apiece in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
However, UP, MP, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are also reporting over 700 cases of Mucormycosis while Haryana is reporting nearly 450 cases.
The Centre on Thursday had said it is doing everything possible to increase availability of Liposomal Amphotericin B injections and had given licenses to five more companies in India which can make this drug, in addition to the existing six pharma companies. Indian Companies have also placed orders for importing 6 lakh vials of Amphotericin-B, Centre said. “Prime Minister had instructed officials to get this drug from anywhere it is available in the world. After these instructions, Indian missions across the world have been involved in securing supplies of this drug,” government sources said.
The Central government has said that Gilead Sciences in USA is working on expediting the supply of the injections to India through Mylan and while 1.21 lakh vials have so far reached India, another 85,000 vials are on the way. “The company will supply 1 million doses to India through Mylan. The company is also withdrawing the stocks available in other countries, which would be supplied to India,” government sources have claimed.
The Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, D.V Sadananda Gowda on Thursday said 29,250 vials of Amphotericin- B drug was allocated to all the States/UTs on May 26 and additional 80,000 vials on Thursday. These allocations by the Centre are being made as per the number of cases of Mucormycosis reported in the states, the highest allocation hence being to Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Telegram.
Comments
0 comment