Nagaland Minister for Health and Family Welfare Imkong L. Imchen today asserted to work towards making generic medicines available in all the hospitals.
In his first interactive session after taking over the charge of the Department with the Chief Medical Officers and Medical Superintendents of all the districts hospitals here, Imchen expressed serious concern over the non-availability of medicines for the patients in the district hospitals.
“I would like to make available medicines for patients,” he said while lamenting that despite budgetary provisions for purchase of medicines in the hospitals, medicines were insufficient following which the patients have to buy them from private pharmacies.
He also expressed that henceforth in order to make available sufficient medicines for the patients in the district hospitals, the department needs to put in place proper organisational structure for their purchase.
“All the required medicines may not be available but the generic medicines have to be made available,” he said asserting that this would be his primary agenda as the Minister in-charge of H&FW.
The newly appointed minister also criticised the absence of medical officers and staff in their places of posting, while stating that most of the doctors, nurses and staff of the medical department instead of going to their places of posting want to remain in urban areas like Kohima, Dimapur and Mokokchung.