Chronic patients with associated ailments will be delivered medicines at home: Health Ministry

Addressing the media, joint secretary health ministry, Lav Agarwal was categoric in stating that there will be no shortage of essential drugs. He also added that chronic patients with associated ailments will be delivered all essential medicines at home.

The centre is working collectively with states to strengthen high disease burden surveillance. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences has launched an online training platform for health providers, said Aggarwal.

Agarwal also reiterated that as per reports, elderly people are at a higher risk of contracting the virus due to a weak immune system.

The health ministry had earlier issued a gazette notification, which read "the sale of the drug from now on should be in accordance with the conditions for sale of drugs specified in Schedule H1 to the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945."

In the wake of reports that hydroxychloroquine can be used to prevent coronavirus, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has categorically stated that the medicine should be administered to patients who are suffering from coronavirus. The staff on duty who were treating COVID-19 patients were using the medicine, which had to be taken under a doctor's supervision.