Steps to ensure medicine supply to hospitals in Keralam, says Murali

Government hospitals in the State will not face any medicine shortages, Health Minister K. Muraleedharan said in a statement here on Tuesday.

He said pharma firms had been asked to speed up drug distribution. He said in the event of any shortage, all institutional heads had been instructed to carry out local purchase through Karunya outlets.

The Minister said Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited usually completed procedures in April and issued purchase orders by May. However, due to the election code of conduct, the April purchase order was not issued. These procedures were completed only after the new government took office.

However, many companies which had participated in the tender withdrew, as the war in West Asia had made drug distribution impossible. In the interim, purchase orders had already been issued for 664 of the 855 items on the essential medicines list. Despite the difficulties, 530 medicines had already been delivered to the State, the statement said.

More medicines were expected to arrive by the end of September. Fresh tenders had been called for the remaining 191 items, and the process was ongoing.

In addition, to prevent medicine shortages, the Supply Chain department was transferring medicines between various warehouses and institutions, Mr. Muraleedharan added.