Minister for Health and Medical Education, Social Welfare and Education, Sakeena Itoo, today directed the J&K Medical Supplies Corporation Limited (JKMSCL) to ensure zero stock-outs of life-saving drugs and injections, particularly in emergency and trauma care units of all district hospitals across Jammu and Kashmir.

The Minister passed on these directions while conducting a comprehensive review of functioning and performance of the J&K Medical Supplies Corporation Limited (JKMSCL) in a meeting held at Civil Secretariat here today.

The meeting was attended by Secretary Health and Medical Education, Dr. Syed Abid Rasheed Shah; CEO State Health Agency, Ananth Dwivedi; MD JKMSCL, Kapil Mishra; Director Health Services Kashmir/Jammu, Director Family Welfare and Immunization, Director Finance, Health and Medical Education department, Principals of various GMCs and other senior officers, either in person or through video conferencing.

Addressing the officers, the Minister underlined the pivotal role of JKMSCL in ensuring seamless procurement and distribution of essential medicines, surgical equipments and other necessary medical supplies to the government health institutions across Jammu and Kashmir.

While having detailed appraisal of the corporation’s procurement processes, inventory management systems, logistics networks and district-wise supply status, the Minister stressed on the urgent need to plug any gaps in real-time supply of critical and life saving medicines.

 She directed the JKMSCL to ensure zero stock-outs of life-saving drugs and injections, particularly for cancer patients as well as cardiac patients in all district hospitals of J&K. “Health and well-being of the people is non-negotiable. We must ensure that no hospital, regardless of its location, faces a shortage of essential or emergency medicines”, asserted the Minister.

Highlighting that a robust, transparent and responsive supply chain is the backbone of any public healthcare system, she instructed the JKMSCL management to adopt tech-enabled inventory tracking systems, ensure real-time coordination with GMC Principals, Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) and conduct monthly audits to monitor availability of essential healthcare supplies and utilization of stock.

She directed both the Directors of health department to give advance requisition for healthcare equipment and accessories to the JKMSCL in order to avoid any delay in healthcare service delivery to people. “The effectiveness of our health system is closely tied to the efficiency of medical supply chains, any delay or lapse directly affects patient care”, the Minister stated.

Calling for maintaining quality standards, especially in procurement of antibiotics, cardiovascular and other critical drugs, Sakeena Itoo emphasized upon the management of JKMSCL to maintain stringent quality control benchmarks for procurement process for enhanced transparency and competitiveness. She also asked them to avoid any kind of delay in procurement process as these equipments and medical supplies are very critical for improving the healthcare facilities across Jammu and Kashmir.

 She also directed the officers to monitor the shelf-life, storage conditions and distribution equity of medicines at all health institutions at their own level. She further stressed on the need to build greater synergy between the Corporation and various healthcare institutions, especially in remote and underserved areas.

While reviewing the procurement of high-end equipments like Tesla MRI machine, Cardia Cath Lab, 128 Slice CT Scan machine, 3D 4K visualization tower for Kidney transplant, microsurgery and open surgery, CT Simulator, Microarray system and other related equipment, the Minister directed both the management of JKMSCL and health department to check sites in advance at required health facilities where they are being set up so as to avoid any last minute delay.

During the meeting, a detailed presentation was given by the MD JKMSCL, highlighting key achievements, procurement timelines, vendor performance metrics and other issues of the corporation.

Meanwhile, the Minister also reviewed the saturation of Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY/SEHAT scheme across Jammu and Kashmir.

During the meeting, the Minister emphasized on the critical role of universal health coverage, underlining the need to ensure equitable and timely access to healthcare services for every household in the region, especially in remote and underserved areas. “The objective of Ayushman Bharat and SEHAT is inclusivity and access. We must ensure that no family is denied their right to quality healthcare because of procedural bottlenecks or geographic barriers”, she said.

 The Minister reiterated Government’s commitment to accessible, equitable and efficient healthcare for all. She directed the concerned authorities to intensify door-to-door awareness campaigns, simplify enrolment procedures and ensure that vulnerable sections like nomadic populations, elderly citizens and persons with disabilities is not left out of the health safety net.

During the meeting, the CEO State Health Agency gave a detailed presentation on number of golden cards issued, beneficiaries enrolled and the quantum of claims settled under the scheme.