Amid rise in COVID cases, black-marketing of anti-viral drug Remdesivir is on rise. Karnataka has busted many rackets involving illegal trade of Remdesivir and the state government has come up with ways to crack down on the drug's misuse. Now, the Karnataka Health Department has gone a step further to ensure the COVID treatment drug is given to the person in need and no third-party or middleman.

Karnataka health department has put in place a system, which ensures transparency in the distribution of Remdesivir. There's a SMS-based Remdesivir allocation and information system that shows the status of medicine being allocated to the patients.

COVID-19 drug Remdesivir

"In order to bring transparency in the allocation of Remdesivir a tech-driven system has been developed and now the patient will get a SMS informing which hospital is provided the medicine against the SRF ID," Health Minister K Sudhakar said on Sunday.

How to report misuse?

The government is also stepping in to make sure the patients receive the allocated medicine. In case the patient has not received it, they can not report it to the government using the new system.

Gilead's Remdesivir authorised for emergency use only
Shutterstock

"In case if the Remdesivir is allocated against the SRF ID & the hospital has not provided it to the patient, a facility is provided in the same link to report it to the government. This will help govt in curbing blackmarketing & misuse of Remdesivir," Sudhakar said in a tweet.

Citizens can also check information on Remdesivir using the link.

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