Karnataka to stockpile home-grown drug ahead of Covid 3rd wave
Only Kodagu, Mysuru, Dakshina Kannada and Hassan districts have Covid positivity rate above 5%: Sudhakar
BENGALURU:
Within hours of Dr Reddy’s Labs announcing that the home-grown 2DG drug for Covid-19 would be made available to government and private hospitals, the Karnataka government announced that it would procure the drug in advance of an anticipated third Covid wave.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said, “Experts are of the opinion that the 2DG drug developed by DRDO and manufactured by Dr Reddy’s Labs is safe to use. The government is planning to procure this medicine before a third wave.”
Also Read: Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Announces Commercial Launch of 2-DG https://thebengalurulive.com/dr-reddys-laboratories-announces-commercial-launch-of-2-dg/
Regarding the Covid situation in Karnataka, the Minister said the state has reported an encouraging 95% recoveries from the virus, while the positivity rate is at 2.62%. Only Kodagu, Mysuru, Dakshina Kannada and Hassan districts have a positivity rate of more than 5%. Karnataka is third in the number of tests after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, he said, noting that Karnataka has conducted 3,36,73,395 tests so far and 1.5-1.75 lakh tests are being conducted every day.
No Covid deaths have been reported in 11 districts, and the overall mortality rate is also reduced, he added.
Drive to recruit docs
Compulsory rural service for MBBS doctors has been implemented and 2,053 doctors have been appointed to various positions in the Health & Family Welfare and Medical Education Departments. Including direct recruitment of 1,750 doctors, the state government has recruited around 4,000 medical officers during the pandemic, Dr Sudhakar said.
“Compulsory service in rural areas for MBBS graduates has been implemented. 1,001 medicos have been appointed on a contractual basis in 18 government medical colleges and hospitals. 666 doctors have been appointed to work in ICUs in taluk hospitals. They will be reporting to their respective workplaces by this month-end,” he said.
348 doctors have been appointed under the National Health Mission, of whom 90 doctors have been posted in CHCs and 3 in nephro-urology units. Of 2,108 vacant posts, 2,053 posts have been filled, the Minister said.
Other points by Minister:
• Karnataka Health Promotion Trust in collaboration with Association of Public Health Technologies has developed a pilot project for testing tuberculosis patients using Artificial Intelligence. It will be undertaken in Ballari, Koppal, Chikkaballapur and Belagavi.
• 3,232 cases of mucormycosis have been reported so far, of which 387 have recovered and 262 people have died. More than 1,600 have been operated on.
• There is a sufficient stock of vaccines at present.
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