Mangaluru: Former minister B Ramanath Rai urged Centre and state governments to supply required quantity of medicines to treat Black Fungus.

“There is a shortage of availability of Amphotericin-B drug to treat the fungal infection in Dakshina Kannada as well as in Karnataka,” he told mediapersons at Congress Bhavan on Tuesday.

“The Karnataka government had sought 20,000 vials of Amphotericin-B drug. But the Centre has supplied only 3,960 vials. It is the responsibility of government to ensure that supply of the drug is uninterrupted to treat the patients. The government should consider Black Fungus seriously,” Rai said.

There are allegations that the medicines are available in black market. The government should check black marketing of such medicines. Instead of waiting for the Centre to supply Amphotericin-B drug, the government should procure at least 25,000 vials to ensure that there was no shortage in Karnataka, he said.

The government should include treatment of Black Fungus under Ayushman Bharath-Arogya Karnataka scheme and other medical insurance schemes for the benefit of patients, Rai added.

The Black Fungus is caused due to lack of cleanliness in ventilator, failure to use distilled water for humidifier and also excessive use of steroids as per experts. The government should direct hospitals to maintain cleanliness. He condemned BJP for engaging in propaganda on fake toolkit and urged DK MP to ensure that local youth get employment in industries in Mangaluru.

Rai urged the Centre to declare Covid-19 as a national disaster and make arrangements to supply grocery kits to all households in dire need of it.