In Idukki district, dealing with monsoon-related diseases poses a formidable obstacle for government physicians and health workers.
This is due to a lack of vehicles for transporting drugs from the district’s drug depot and conducting field visits.
32 of the 47 vehicles owned by the district’s health department cannot be driven because their permits have expired after 15 years of prescribed use. The government requires a special permit to utilise them.
According to district officials of the Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA), the majority of government hospitals and health centres in Idukki lack medications for even fever, diabetes, cholesterol, and blood pressure.
Two trucks intended to transport medications from the warehouse near Painavu were recently removed from the road, according to health employees and government physicians.
In addition, fieldwork, medical centres, and awareness campaigns that are typically conducted to prevent outbreaks of monsoon-related diseases have been impacted by the vehicle shortage.
Recently, a number of cases of dengue fever were reported in Thodupuzha.
“Because the incidence of fever is on the rise, now is a crucial moment to extend our services to remote areas such as plantation regions and tribal hamlets; an immediate plan must be adopted in this regard. We’ve been dealing with this problem for the past two months; some physicians who visit the DMO’s office in Painavu for conferences are transporting medications to hospitals in their vehicles, according to KGMOA district secretary Evin Abraham.
Two replacement vehicles for the distribution of medicines have arrived in Idukki, according to the district medical officer, Manoj L, and will begin operating on Saturday.
“However, for the remaining vehicles that have exceeded the prescribed period of use according to the new motor vehicle regulations of the Union government, either special permission must be granted, for which we have applied, or these vehicles must be replaced,” the DMO explained.
Source- onmanorama
