Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Health Minister Veena George has said that strict action would be taken against those who hoard reasonably priced typhoid vaccines and sell the expensive variant instead.
The minister has given instructions to the Drugs Controller in this regard. Her action follows complaints that medical stores are selling expensive typhoid medicine to those applying for health cards as part of food safety procedures.
Complaints were raised that medical shops were duping customers when the typhoid vaccine was made mandatory for hotel employees to get a health card. Medical stores were accused of selling typhoid vaccines priced at Rs 2,000, hiding the fact that vaccines priced at Rs 200 are available in the market. The allegation was that medical stores were profiting from the higher commissions by selling more expensive drugs.
This additional cost on the health card has become a burden on the hotel staff as private hospitals also charge a huge fee to administer injections.
Non-availability of the vaccine in government hospitals and Karunya Pharmacies, which are mandated to supply drugs at low cost, is setting the stage for exploitation, it is alleged.
Health card: Time extended by two weeks
Health minister on Tuesday said the time to take the health card will be extended to February 28. The extension is considering the delay in getting the health card. The Food Safety Department estimates that about 60 per cent of employees in employed in the sector have taken health cards. The remaining 40 per cent can take the card before the end of the month.
