No quality drugs at ministry

THE EDITOR: I truly regret that Dr. Asante Le Blanc withdrew her claim that the Ministry of Health does not have quality healthcare pharmaceuticals to serve the people of TT, since many citizens will agree with her.

My own personal experience is that the dispensary counters of the Mount Hope Hospital, most health centers, and the PoS General Hospital never had any of the medications prescribed. I can tell you for a fact that in relation to a specific Pfizer tablet for mood issues, you have to be running up and down to pick up a couple tablets here and a couple there. If you have no insurance, a monthly supply of the drug will cost you $1,500.

So, you get a prescription from the doctor on the ward clinic and take it to the window. The unpleasant woman there will tell you, “It eh have this...outa stock for months.” You have a choice: take some generic drug from India or Pakistan or shop around. Many people will tell you that this is the same for other key drugs.

In so doing, people who have relatives in the hospital have to pay for many things privately and take them back to the hospital. So the ministry will escape this time around, but I assure you the ministry is bankrupt when it comes to medications. This is why there are so many satellite businesses offering themselves to the public. The ministry is woefully inadequate.

Of course, I should also mention that while 15-storey buildings and spectacular head offices are being built, there is no parking for the Chaguanas Health Centre on Ramsaran Street, and medical personnel who work long hours have no hostel to catch a few hours of sleep before resuming duty, and the quarters on the compound of PoS General remain abandoned. There is not even a decent food court or catering service. Shame.

LINDA CAPILDEO

St. James