Uttarakhand govt to control distribution of drug used in treatment of black fungus, lays down SOP
May 18, 2021
Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], May 18 : The Uttarakhand government on Tuesday announced that it will control the distribution of Amphotericin B, an antifungal drug used for the treatment of black fungus.
An official direction from the Uttarakhand government stated that Mucormycosis is emerging as a serious secondary infection encountered during the COVID-19 case management.
"In this regard, the use of Amphotericin B drug which is the mainstay of treatment should be timely and judicious," it said.
The drug will be made available only to COVID-dedicated hospitals, medical colleges and other medical institutions of the government, for which the government released a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
As per the guideline, the Director General Medical and Health has nominated two nodal officers - Dr Rashmi Pant and Dr Kailash Gunjyal, one each for Kumaon and Garhwal divisions respectively - who will be responsible for storage and issue of this medicine.
The nodal officers will issue the drug on the recommendation of respective HoDs of Medicine Departments - Dr Narayan Jeet Singh from Doon Medical College, responsible for Kumaon district, and Dr S R Saxena from Haldwani Medical College, for Garhwal district.
The SOP states that it is mandatory to deposit empty vials of used medicine or any unused medicine by the hospital to the nodal officers.
Earlier, the Uttarakhand government had laid down an SOP for Tocilizumab, a key COVID-19 drug.
