Manjeri KMSCL centre struggles with inadequate medicine storage facilities
The Manjeri medical distribution centre in Kerala supplies nearly one hundred institutions yet lacks adequate refrigeration and a functional cooling system, forcing staff to store temperature-sensitive stock elsewhere and causing severe logistical delays.
The Manjeri medical distribution centre in Kerala supplies nearly one hundred institutions yet lacks adequate refrigeration and a functional cooling system, forcing staff to store temperature-sensitive stock elsewhere and causing severe logistical delays.
The Manjeri medical distribution centre in Kerala supplies nearly one hundred institutions yet lacks adequate refrigeration and a functional cooling system, forcing staff to store temperature-sensitive stock elsewhere and causing severe logistical delays.
Malappuram: Even as it supplies medicines to nearly 100 healthcare institutions in Malappuram district, the Manjeri centre of the Kerala Medical Services Corporation (KMSCL) continues to function without adequate refrigeration, with plans to install a cooling system stalled for years.
The centre lacks a cold room and a functional centralised air-conditioning system, making it difficult to store medicines that require specific temperature conditions. The unit functions from two poorly ventilated warehouses rented from the Kerala State Warehousing Corporation, measuring 10,000 sq ft and 8,200 sq ft.
The facility currently handles medicines worth nearly Rs 50 crore annually for distribution to healthcare institutions, including the medical college hospital and the district hospitals at Nilambur and Perinthalmanna. With no cold room of its own, it relies on the KMSCL warehouse in Tirur to store temperature-sensitive medicines, which are transported to Manjeri as and when required. Consequently, vehicles from healthcare institutions often have to wait for supplies to arrive from Tirur before they can collect the medicines.
A centralised air-conditioning system was installed at the centre in 2022 but remains non-functional as the transformer required to provide a power connection has yet to be installed. Despite repeated correspondence between the KMSCL and Warehousing Corporation authorities over the issue, no concrete steps have been taken to make the system operational.
At present, vaccines and other temperature-sensitive medicines are stored in ice-lined refrigerators (ILRs), which maintain temperatures between 2°C and 8°C. However, the existing units are no longer sufficient to meet the growing demand as the number of institutions served and the volume of medicines handled have increased. The centre, which initially catered to around 50 healthcare institutions, now serves nearly 100.
Staff and transport shortages have further compounded the problems. The centre has an inadequate number of packers and pharmacists, while its vehicle fleet has shrunk from two to one.
Despite supplying medicines to nearly 100 healthcare institutions and handling stocks worth nearly Rs 50 crore annually, the centre continues to operate without the basic facilities required for proper medicine storage, while little progress has been made in addressing these long-standing infrastructure gaps.