Declare black fungus as an Epidemic: PIL in Delhi HC

A Public Interest Litigation has been moved in Delhi High Court seeking directions to the Centre and others to declare mucormycosis commonly known as black fungus, a post-COVID complication, as an Epidemic.

It also sought directions from the court to the Centre and other authorities to take steps to ensure the availability of the drug for the treatment of Black Fungus.

The Petition is scheduled to be heard on Tuesday by the Bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh.

The petitioner, Mukesh ur Rehman through the petition sought the court's directions to appoint Amicus curiae which can keep a watch on the steps taken by the respondent authorities with regard to making this drug available.

The plea stated that the people of Delhi deserve at least a proper and timely supply of Liposomal Amphotericin-B for the treatment of mucormycosis, and if not for free or at a subsidised cost, then at least not at a higher price than the MRP of the drug.

The petitioner said that media also reported that Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, and union territory of Chandigarh have already declared mucormycosis as a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897.

The people who have recovered from COVID-19 are at high risk of being affected by mucormycosis due to steroid doses during the treatment, and the standard drug Liposomal Amphotericin-B is not available to the patients in the open market, but only a few lucky ones are getting it from the black-marketers at 10 to 20 times higher than the MRP, just like in case of Dr. Meryam who had to buy Amphotericin-B of MRP around Rs 300 in Rs 6,000, however, the actual drug prescribed was Liposomal Amphotericin-B, which is a standard drug for mucormycosis, said the petition.

( With inputs from ANI )

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