Tirunelveli Chapter of Indian Red Cross Society has launched a ‘Drug Bank’, with the objective of collecting unused but not date expired drugs for the poor, disabled and mentally retarded children of the district.

The initiative is expected to help 2500 poor patients every month with drugs worth Rs 30,000. For this propose, the Society has formed a team of 350 volunteers to collect unused medicines with the guidance of qualified doctors who will segregate the collected drugs before supplying, said Adv D A Prabhakar, honorary secretary of IRCS.

According to sources, the volunteers will collect unused medicines, which are not expired, from the public, medical representatives, clinics and pharmacist associations, and hand over to the poor patients of the society carrying prescriptions given by qualified doctors. The inauguration of the Drug Bank was held last week in Tirunelveli.

Apart from medical fraternity, many philanthropists are helping the Society with cash to purchase medicines for stocking in the bank which is under the control of a team of doctors and pharmacists. Most of the drugs collected are distributed to the children of the local schools for disabled and to the two blind and deaf schools located in the twin cities of Tirunelveli and Palaimkottai. The Society requires huge quantity of drugs every month to provide to listed patients, said Prabhakar. Those who need Siddha medicines, the volunteers will collect them from Siddha doctors and supply it.

He said the Society would not accept drugs that have passed or nearing the expiry dates. The collected drugs would be kept in pharmacy set up by the team of doctors and pharmacists and be supplied on requirements strictly on free of cost.

“Many people are helping us with drugs and money. Every day we are getting telephone calls from the public asking us to collect medicines from their houses. The medical representatives, pharmacists and even doctors are helping us a lot in our endeavour,” Prabhakar told Pharmabiz.