Patients under treatment for cancer and organ transplant are finding the going tough during the lockdown as most medicines for their treatment would not be available in the local medical store.
These medicines would be available in small quantities only in some of the major medical stores, near medical colleges, or a big hospital where cancer treatment facility is available.
Stocks down
Sixteen days into the lockdown, the stock of medicines would also have been depleted as the high cost of the drugs does not make it possible for most people to stock them for more than a month.
Ravi Menon, State Drug Controller, told The Hindu that their office is getting over 60-70 calls every day on the issue. It is being sorted out by taking the details of the prescription and sending it to the district-level drug inspector to make the medicines available.
However, delivery of the drug to the patient is not without another kind of problem. Patients find it hard to shed the brand loyalty. It took a lot to convince them in this regard, he said. Another problem was that most patients found it difficult to pay for the drugs even at subsidised rates. Most of these at government institutions were provided free of cost to the patient.
Mr. Menon said the Kerala Medical Services Corporation was also pushing towards making the drugs available at Karunya pharmacies in all districts. Local pharmacies would not be able to provide cancer or transplant drugs at remote places, he said.
Grievance redressal
The assistant drug controller can be called on 7403006100 for any grievance in accessing the medicines, Mr. Menon said.
S. Sudhindran, transplant surgeon at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, said the hospital used to courier the medicines to the patients. The monthly cost of the drugs, mostly immunosuppresants, that a transplant patient needs to take, could cost anywhere between ₹8,000 and ₹10,000 a month.
The hospital used to courier them to the patients, but the service came to a standstill owing to the lockdown.
Delivery issues
Oncologist V.P. Gangadharan said that while there was no shortage of drugs in the hospital (Lakeshore Hospital), the difficulty was in delivering them. However, arrangements were being made to deliver them to the patients who called the hospital, either through an employee who stayed in the area or through some contact.
“We are also arranging for chemotherapy schedules in hospitals that are near the patient’s area,” said Dr. Gangadharan.
While the number of people in the OP is less, the numbers of calls from patients have gone up, mainly for coordinating and organising various needs of patients in their homes.
