On Tuesday, AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami (EPS) stated in a press release that the Tamil Nadu health system and department have been in shambles since the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) took over the government. He mentioned a significant shortage of essential medicines across government hospitals in the state.
The Tamil Nadu government’s Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam (Medicine at the doorstep of the people), MTM, was a pioneering program that was launched. EPS alleged that the MTM program had now become derailed as the medicines covered under this program were not made available by the government.
EPS further stated that the Tamil Nadu Medical Service Corporation had been procuring the medicines for government hospitals, and until the AIADMK was in power, there had been no issues. Now, the DMK government has allowed the local purchase of these medicines by government hospitals, and this is causing problems, he emphasised.
Questioning why the Stalin government has still not appointed a Director of Medical Education, EPS said there is also non-availability of doctors in some PHCs. Many vacancies across government hospitals have yet to be filled, and EPS said that Stalin and Health Minister Ma Subramanian should address these issues at the earliest.
This is not the first time that EPS has criticized the DMK government over the health department. In July this year, he alleged that despite rising cases of fever, dengue, and chikungunya, the public complained that there was not enough stock of medicines in government hospitals to treat these diseases.
Meanwhile, on November 15, TN CM M K Stalin is set to inaugurate a new government dental college and hospital in Pudukottai. He will also virtually inaugurate 17 primary health centers.