51,775 cases of mucormycosis reported in India: Centre

NEW DELHI: A total of 51,775 cases of mucormycosis have been reported till November 29, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.

On the steps taken by the government to tackle such cases, Mandaviya in written reply to a question said health is a state subject and the Union Ministry of Health has proactively supported states to tackle the challenge posed by cases of mucormycosis during the second surge of COVID-19.

The ministry had asked all states to make mucormycosis a notifiable disease so as to get details of its prevalence in the country.

A unified portal was created by the ministry for states to enter surveillance data of mucormycosis cases. The Ministry of Health has issued national comprehensive guidelines for the management of post-COVID-19 sequelae, including mucormycosis, he said in the written reply.

The clinical management guidelines for COVID-19 cases by the Ministry of Health advocates the rational use of steroids for managing moderate to severe cases of COVID19 under strict medical supervision, the minister said.

Further noting the relationship between use of steroids and other immune-suppressive drugs, the advisory for rational use of steroids and Tocilizumab in the treatment of COVID-19 patients was issued by the Directorate General of Health Services.

Since early May 2021, the details of production, stock, supplies made and purchase orders were obtained from the manufacturers and their cooperation was sought to overcome

A unified portal was created by the ministry for states to enter surveillance data of mucormycosis cases

the gap between supply and demand, he said. The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) have been jointly monitoring the production and availability of critical COVID19 drugs, including AmphotericinB injections.

The central government has placed Amphotericin-B under restricted category for export through a notification on June 1 for ensuring continuous availability of medicines for treatment of mucormycosis cases domestically.

The central government has undertaken steps to procure Amphotericin-B from various available sources around the globe and made efforts to increase the production of existing manufacturers/importers drug in the country.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has given permission to 11 new manufacturers of Liposomal Amphotericin-B, Mandaviya informed.