The Karunya Community Pharmacies attached to government hospitals in Kerala are struggling for survival because of severe scarcity of medicines including life saving drugs.

The pharmacies were started by the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd (KMSCL) in 2012 and it has 21 retail outlets attached to medical colleges, district hospitals and community health centres. Patients now visiting the pharmacies move away in despair as the medical shops are unable to satisfy their demands.

Whereas, sources from KMSCL said the shortages have occurred in the case of a few categories of medicines supplied by certain companies from other states. Hectic parleys are going on to make the drug availability better in all the stores.

The sales manager of the community pharmacy division of KMSCL said the latest of the pharmacy series will open at Adoor general hospital. With this, the number of Karunya Pharmacies in the state will increase to 22. Eight more units will come in the list in another three months.

Meanwhile, the Kerala pharmacy council (KPC) has come down heavily on KMSCL for its reluctance to engage Kerala pharmaceutical society under the Council to run certain units of the Karunya Pharmacies granting franchise. B Rajan, president of the Council told Pharmabiz that KPC had several times approached the government with proposal that it would set up the necessary infrastructure facilities and appoint qualified pharmacists in the stores. The Corporation should undertake the duty to cater adequate supply of medicines. But the government and the KMSCL have ignored the proposal of the pharmacy council.

Rajan further commented that had the government granted licence for the Council’s pharmaceutical society to start Karunya Community Pharmacies, it could have quashed the monopoly of the All Kerala Chemists & Druggists Association (AKCDA) in the state. He added that the Council would try for government permission and bring the Karunya stores under it.

A senior officer from KMSCL responded that presently the Corporation has no plan to authorise any outside agency to run the Karunya drug units. However, he said there are already three franchisee units operating in Malappuram district under the supervision of hospital superintends.

KMSCL started Karunya Community Pharmacies on January 12, 2012 and it has 21 outlets across the state at present. The pharmacies give 20 to 93 per cent discounts on the prices of all drugs. The corporation has tied-up with 220 companies all over India for supply of medicines and 8500 branded products are procured by it, sources informed.