The battle against the Black Fungus disease has been fought vigorously in the past. “Black Fungus,” scientifically known as Mucormycosis, was a very rare but potentially fatal condition. It was caused by mold found in damp environments like soil compost and could attack the respiratory tract. It was not contagious and did not spread from person to person.
At that time, more than 8,800 people in India had been reported with mucormycosis, and 219 had lost their lives. States across India had declared a “black fungus” epidemic as cases of the fatal rare infection had shot up in patients recovering from Covid-19.
The Bhansali Trust had been a major contributor in helping during the black fungus crisis. Joy of Helping’s contribution had helped enhance their efforts to eliminate blindness or death due to black fungus infection.
Joy of Helping, in collaboration with Bhansali Trust, had tried to help patients infected with “Black Fungus” get admitted to ten different hospitals in major cities of Gujarat. More than 2000 had been admitted and needed to be taken care of. Black Fungus had mandated that patients stay admitted for 21 days, and a high proportion had required immediate surgery, with many cases needing three attending surgeons.
Bhansali Trust had been working to provide incentives to doctors from private hospitals. To accomplish this mega task, there had been a crucial requirement for additional instrument supplies as well as operating facilities to perform the expected number of surgeries. Any delay in treatment had caused a faster spread of the fungus, leaving very little possibility to save infected patients. “We” had keenly asked our friends and families to donate monetary support to Bhansali Trust so that Bhansali Trust could expand to cover more hospitals and get more doctors and other necessary medical supplies to perform the required number of operations so we could save as many lives as possible. The medicines to cure black fungus had been really expensive, so they had only been available at civil hospitals.
