Pinarayi Vijayan flags medicine shortage in Kerala government hospitals

Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan has accused the UDF government of deliberately undermining Kerala's public health sector to benefit a "private sector health care lobby". Speaking on the issue, he alleged that government hospitals were facing an unprecedented shortage of medicines, with even life-saving drugs unavailable.

Mr. Vijayan said the shortage extended to basic items such as paracetamol and IV fluids, and that essential medicines, including anti-rabies vaccines, were out of stock. Stocks of 209 categories of medicines and equipment for the current financial year had still not reached hospitals, he said, pointing to acute shortages of antibiotics, cardiac medicines, acidity medicines and doxycycline, which is used for leptospirosis prevention.

The Opposition leader said the shortage affected all government health institutions, from primary health centres upwards, particularly medicines needed regularly for diabetes and hypertension. He attributed the situation to frequent changes in the leadership of the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd. (KMSCL), which handles medicine distribution in public sector hospitals, along with failures in tendering and delays in placing purchase orders. He alleged that the government was pushing ordinary people towards private hospitals by turning government hospitals into mere "show pieces".

Separately, at a review meeting convened by Health Minister K. Muraleedharan to assess the shortage, the KMSCL General Manager presented figures indicating that essential medicines, including fever medication and antibiotics, were currently in stock in hospitals. Medicines for which purchase orders had already been placed would arrive during the week, he said.

The Minister directed that procurement procedures for the next financial year begin in October and be completed by the end of December. He also ordered that middlemen be removed from tender processes and that agencies dealing directly in imported medicines be allowed to participate in tenders. KMSCL should procure only drugs that are procured by at least two State governments, he said.

Mr. Muraleedharan further directed that medicines be procured at a price lower than that paid by the in-house drug bank at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, which currently offers the cheapest branded medicines in the State, and that the purchase price of medicines each year be published on the website. He said a comprehensive overhaul was under way at KMSCL to ensure access to quality medicines, with its effects expected to become visible in the coming days.