Uttarakhand to train Asha workers in distributing meds in remote areas

DEHRADUN: To strengthen the health infrastructure in the remote hills of Uttarakhand, the health department has mooted a proposal to train Asha workers in distributing basic medicines to sick people. This has been done to ensure that people receive immediate medical care and don’t turn critical before they can be shifted to a primary or community health centre.

The proposal is inspired by Kerala where Asha workers have been trained to keep and distribute medicines in remote areas.

Uttarakhand has nearly 13,000 Accredited Social Health Activists (Asha) workers and their work includes conducting surveys, running health drives, creating awareness about diseases and distributing ration etc.

The Asha workers will be trained under the aegis of the chief medical officer in their respective areas in distributing certain medicines.

Confirming the proposal, the director general of health, Dr Tripti Bahuguna, said, “The proposal is at a very nascent stage right now and a dedicated technical team is deciding the medicines which the ASHAs can distribute before we seek final go-ahead for roping them in from the system.”

This move will take medical facilities to the remotest villages of Uttarakhand but, in the process, also increase the responsibility of Asha workers who will have to provide basic treatment to sick people before they can be referred to a primary or community health centre.

Ahead of a possible third wave of Covid-19, such preparations would help the state in controlling the impact of the pandemic. The newly appointed health minister, Dhan Singh Rawat, has also announced that a total of 600 health camps would be organized across the state in the next four months. As the state gears up for the February 2022 assembly elections, health facilities are being ramped up by the state government.

Suggestions from experts in the health department and private doctors are being taken into consideration to create a robust health infrastructure in the state.

The proposal, however, has left the pharma association fuming. “According to the Pharmacy Act 1948, Drugs and Cosmetic Act 1940 and Pharmacy Practice Regulation 2015, Pharmacy Council of India, no person other than a qualified and registered pharmacist can store, distribute and manage medicines. The move being planned is condemned by the pharmacist union of Uttarakhand,” said Sudha Kukreti, Dehradun district president, Diploma pharmacist association, Uttarakhand.