District Medical Officers (DMOs) have informed the Kerala government that hospitals across the state currently have adequate stocks of medicines, even as shortages are being reported at the warehouses of the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited (KMSCL).
The clarification was made during a meeting convened by Health Minister K Muraleedharan on Tuesday to review measures to strengthen infectious disease prevention and ensure the availability of medicines and essential medical supplies across Kerala.
The minister directed KMSCL to take immediate steps to ensure the uninterrupted supply of essential medicines and surgical materials, including cotton, to hospitals. He instructed the corporation to convene an emergency board meeting and complete the required purchase orders without delay so that supplies can be replenished at the earliest.
According to the DMOs, while concerns had been raised over the availability of medicines, stocks were presently available at hospitals in the districts. The minister, however, directed health officials to conduct assessments at the grassroots level to ensure that the medicines required at the lower levels of the public health system are available without interruption.
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The minister also asked officials to explore emergency procurement options, if required, by coordinating with medical corporations in states such as Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. The move is aimed at ensuring that any shortage at KMSCL warehouses does not affect the availability of medicines at hospitals.
The meeting also focused extensively on measures to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Muraleedharan directed health officials to intensify field-level preventive activities, particularly in areas reporting higher numbers of cases.
He called for stronger door-to-door interventions and instructed officials to ensure that sanitation measures, including chlorination, are carried out directly at households wherever necessary. Health inspectors were asked to take the lead in intensifying preventive activities by visiting homes in disease hotspots.
The minister stressed that there should be no complaints about health workers failing to reach households in affected areas. Officials were instructed to ensure that preventive and awareness measures reach the community at the grassroots level.
As part of the review, the minister also directed medical officers in every district to assess the condition of mortuaries and examine the functioning and safety of sealing systems, lifts and ventilators. District-level reports on these facilities have been sought.
The meeting was attended by the Health Department Principal Secretary, NHM Kerala Mission Director, Health Department Director, Director of Medical Education, Director in charge of Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM), Director of Homoeopathy, district medical officers, district programme managers and KMSCL officials.
The government’s immediate focus is on ensuring that shortages reported at the KMSCL warehouse level do not translate into a shortage of medicines or essential supplies at hospitals, while simultaneously strengthening infectious disease prevention and field-level public health interventions across the state.
