A Youth Congress activist being taken into police custody at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, on Tuesday.

| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

An organisation representing the family members of kidney recipients has sought urgent steps to solve the shortage of drugs and surgical devices at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Kozhikode.

Distributors of drugs and surgical devices have stopped the supply to the hospital since January 10 citing pending payments. Addressing the media on Tuesday, functionaries of Pratheeksha Organ Recipients Family Association (PORFA) said that kidney patients who should undergo dialysis treatment on alternate days were facing a crisis as many hospitals were refusing to accept insurance claims under the Ayushman Bharat claims in view of the pending dues worth crores of rupees. Even the dialysis centres which offer the treatment for free were facing problems. Kidney transplant surgeries were getting affected too.

T.T. Basheer, chairman, PORFA Charitable Trust, said that the worst affected were children who were undergoing peritoneal dialysis. There was a severe shortage of the expensive cleansing fluid used for the treatment. The PORFA functionaries demanded that steps be immediately taken to address the shortage. Drugs should be distributed through Karunya Pharmacy outlets. They sought help for kidney patients for getting treatment and drugs on time and effective implementation of the Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhathi and the Karunya Benevolent Scheme. The government should ensure that the kidney patients were getting the financial help of ₹4,000 proposed to be distributed by panchayats. They also alleged that many hospitals were refusing to provide treatment under the Medisep scheme of the State government.

Youth Congress protest

Meanwhile, activists of the Indian Youth Congress laid siege to the office of the principal of the medical college in protest against the alleged apathy of the government in ignoring the plight of the patients. They alleged that none of the medicines required for patients in critical condition were available at the Karunya Pharmacy outlet or the fair price medical shop run by the hospital development society. The authorities were indulging in a fake propaganda by claiming that essential drugs had been made available, they said. C.A. Arundev, Youth Congress State general secretary, was present.

As the principal was out of town, the Youth Congress activists later held talks with the vice-principal and demanded that the dues of the distributors be cleared fast. R. Shahin, Youth Congress Kozhikode district president, said that the government and Health Minister Veena George were clueless about solving the crisis at the medical college hospital with the limited stock of drugs available with the Kerala Medical Services Corporation. Cancer and kidney patients and those who had undergone surgeries were in dire straits. The activists also raised slogans against the government. Later, the police took them into custody.