Kerala Health Minister K Muraleedharan directed the Health Department’s Principal Secretary on Sunday, October 4, to set up district teams to monitor medicine availability in government hospitals, according to Manorama News and Asianet News. The instruction followed complaints about patients being unable to obtain medicines.
An Additional or Deputy District Medical Officer is to lead each team, alongside hospital superintendents, drug-control officials, pharmacy store officers and Kerala Medical Services Corporation warehouse managers. The teams are to inspect hospital pharmacies and stores, compare stocks with patient needs, identify impending shortages and examine supply delays.
They are also to explore moving surplus medicines to hospitals facing shortages, subject to existing rules. Weekly reports covering hospitals up to district and general-hospital level are to go to the Director of Health Services, while medical-college reports are to go to the Director of Medical Education. Serious shortages must be reported immediately.
The minister said the key test was whether patients actually received medicines, beyond the stock recorded in registers. The reports describe an instruction to establish monitoring and reporting; they do not confirm completed inspections or replenished supplies. The original written order was not available for independent review.