Corporation has ideas

KOCHI: Day-and-night medical stores are common in Mumbai, Bangalore and in our capital city but there is hardly a  single medical outlet that is kept open 24X7 in the commercial capital of the state, putting those in need into dire straits. Considering the gravity of the situation, the Kochi Corporation will soon hold talks with the office-bearers of   All-Kerala Chemists and Druggists Association to see whether  it would be possible for the proprietors to keep open one or  two shops during the day and night by taking turns.“At present, there is no law which makes it mandatory for the  drug stores to keep the shops open for 24 hours. To our knowledge, an outlet near Goutham Hospital, Panayappilly, is  kept open throughout day and night,” said Kochi Corporation Town Planning Standing Committee chairman K J Sohan. He said that all the civic body can do is to urge the medical stores near the hospitals to keep them open during night  on rotation basis. “We cannot ask these shops to function 24X7. But, considering the humanitarian angle of the issue, it should be sorted out by the owners of the medical stores themselves,” he said.Kochi Corporation Health Standing Committee chairman T K Ashraf reiterated the same view. “It is for a good cause. So definitely we will hold talks with the All-Kerala Chemists and Druggists Association to see whether they can keep open at least one or two medical shops during the night. They have various concerns including staff shortage and security. So  they can think of keeping open the shops near hospitals. Usually, the hospitals will be active throughout the day and night and the issues related to security will be less,” he said.