Efforts on to make Black Fungus drug easily available: Kishan

‘Govt. clearance to 11 firms to increase production’

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G. Kishan Reddy said on Thursday that all necessary steps were being taken to ensure the drug to treat Mucormycosis or Black Fungus, Amphoterisan B, was easily available for patients with three lakh vials made available this month and another three lakh vials expected next month. “The government has also given all clearances to 11 firms to increase the production of the medicine and soon private hospitals will also be provided the same to treat patients in their facilities. We should understand that till a few months ago these were rare cases and medicines too, were produced accordingly,” he explained. The Minister was talking to the media after interacting with patients and doctors at the Government ENT Hospital and Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) here. He also sought to assure citizens that domestic vaccine production was being ramped up and imports were being readied to ensure sufficient supplies were available for citizens by the year-end or January.