Kerala - Palakkad   

Distributors told not to create drug scarcity

Staff Reporter

Meeting held to review preventive steps

PALAKKAD : Minister for Electricity A.K. Balan has warned the All Kerala Chemist and Druggist Association of stern action if they created artificial scarcity for life-saving medicines when the health sector in the State is facing serious challenges from epidemics like chikungunya and other fevers.

Mr. Balan, who is Minister in-charge of preventive steps against chikungunya in the district, was addressing a meeting called to review the preventive steps taken to meet the calamity here on Tuesday.

He said there were 35 members of the association who were not supplying medicines to Medi-Care run by the Government in the district hospital.

Though the District Collector called a meeting of the association members last week, they did not attended. When the health sector in the State was facing serious challenges, such an attitude by the association was unwarranted, he said.

The Minister said he told the District Collector to call another meeting immediately to solve the problem. District Medical Officer K.M. Radhakrishnan told the meeting that there were 229 cases with symptoms of chikungunya reported from the district so far.

Of this, 130 persons were admitted in different hospitals and 99 were out patients and given treatment.

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