Antifungal drug supply short of govt estimates
NEW DELHI: Owing to the limited supply of Amphotericin B from the central government, Delhi is on the brink of facing a crisis of the antifungal medicine required to treat mucormycosis.
As on Thursday, the city had 203 active black fungus cases. The Centre allocated the city 2,750 vials of the drug, which, officials said, would suffice for only 30 patients for the full 15-day treatment regimen.
State health officials said that of the allocation of 2,750 vials, Delhi had not received 600 vials till Thursday. Going by the number of active cases, the Delhi government has projected it needs at least 18,000 vials to treat the existing number of patients.
“Delhi was earlier allocated 2,150 vials of Amphotericin B by the Centre for the month of May. On Wednesday, it increased the allocation by 600 vials, making it a total of 2,750 vials. But, at least till 6pm (on Thursday), we did not receive the 600 vials,” said a senior state health official.
According to doctors, as of now, Amphotericin B is the only effective last-line medicine to treat mucormycosis.
“What is worrying is the increasing number of cases -from 185 cases on Wednesday, the number of patients affected by black fungus stood at at least 200 on Thursday. We hope fresh stocks arrive soon,” said another state health official.
Since supply is less than demand, the Delhi government is regulating the distribution of Amphotericin B to ensure judicious and equitable distribution to the needy patients. On May 18, the city administration formed a technical expert committee (TEC) to examine applications from various hospitals for the medicine and approve the requisite number of vials.
Of the 2,150 vials available, the TEC, till Wednesday, cleared distribution of 1,800 vials to hospitals that are treating black fungus patients, documents seen by HT showed. This indicates that the Delhi government is left with only about 350 more vials, unless fresh stocks arrive.
“The treatment protocol is for 15 days and, usually, 300mg dosage is recommended for one day. So, one patient needs approximately 90 vials of Amphotericin-b (50mg) during the full course of treatment,” said a second health official.
“The Delhi government has written to the department of pharmaceuticals, the Government of India (GOI) and the Drugs Controller General of India, requesting for 18,000 vials of Amphotericin-b (50mg) at least. Apart from this, we have also calculated that Delhi will need approximately 15,000 vials of 50mg each on a weekly basis. This also has been communicated to them,” said the official.
Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia also wrote a letter to the Centre demanding an allocation of 100,000 vials of Amphotericin-b (50mg) for Delhi, health minister Satyendar Jain said on Wednesday.
Union minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers, Mansukh Mandaviya, on Thursday said shortages of the drug will be resolved soon.
“Within three days, five more pharmaceutical companies have got new drug approvals to produce it in India, in addition to the existing six pharma companies. The existing companies have already started ramping up production,” said Mandaviya in a statement issued on Thursday.