Third wave fear: Pharma firms on alert mode

The Drugs Control Department of Delhi has written to the drug manufacturers’ association and the chemists association of the city urging them to ensure smooth supply and availability of medicines during any possible future surge of Covid.It has specifically asked for maintaining the buffer stock of medicines for Covid treatment, mucormycosis and for treatment of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children.AK Nasa, head of office, licensing and controlling authority, said the sudden rise in the number of cases during the recent surge posed a “significant challenge” in ensuring timely access to essential drugs for Covid-19 and Covid-19 associated mucormycosis.In view of this, he has advised the associations to maintain the inventories of sufficient quantities of drugs used in the management of Covid-19 like Remdesivir,Toclilizumab, Enoxaparin, Methylprednisolone injection and Dexamethasone injection. He has emphasised the need to maintain stocks of medicines which are used in the treatment of mucormycosis like Amphatericin B Deoxycholate injection, Posaconazole injection.The government has been anticipating the third wave of Covid-19 could peak in October and may affect children equally. In fact, a panel set up by the central government, in its latest report, has warned that a third wave of Covid-19 pandemic could peak around October. It has also said the public healthcare system should have better medical preparedness for children who might be at similar risk as adults.The report of a committee of experts constituted under the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), which was set up by the Union home ministry, said, “Paediatric [control] facilities including doctors, staff, equipment like ventilators, ambulances etc are nowhere close to what may be required in case a large number of children become infected.”Nasa also underlined the importance of maintaining enough stocks of medicines for the treatment of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. This includes, intravenous immunoglobulin, Methyl Predisolone and Dexamethasone injections.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/2WkAFYH