New Delhi: Amid a rise in the number of cases of Mucormycosis, commonly known as Black Fungus, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to take immediate measures to provide relief to the patients.
She also highlighted that this illness was neither covered under Ayushman Bharat nor under any other health insurance scheme.
In her letter, Gandhi stated, "The Government of India has just asked states to declare Mucomycosis as an epidemic under the Epidemic Diseases Act. This means that there must be (1) adequate production and assured supply of essential medicines to treat it, and (ii) cost-free patient care for those in need of treatment."
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"I understand that Liposomal Amphotericin-B is absolutely essential for the treatment of Mucormycosis. 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," she wrote.
Her letter comes after several states complained to the Central government over the shortage of antifungal drugs to treat Mucormycosis. Though the Centre has been allocating drugs to the states, the latter have said the supply wasn't enough as an increasing number of cases were being reported.
A few hours ago, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a dig at Modi. "Due to the mismanagement of the Modi system, there is another epidemic of black fungus, along with COVID. Already there is a shortage of vaccines. Now there is also a scarcity of drug for this new disease. To cope up with this, PM will soon be announcing to clap or beat thalis (sic)," his tweet in Hindi read.
