SHILLONG, July 5: Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh on Wednesday admitted that expired medicines have often been dumped in landfills and said the department would constitute a committee to ensure that this is not repeated.
“This is not the first time something like this has happened. I have been informed that this happens again and again. We have to take necessary action,” she said.
“We have to communicate very clearly to the officials in the department that you are not permitted to do this (dump medicines). We will set things right after an inquiry is over and I can share with the public what actions are being taken,” she added.
Lyngdoh said the incinerator should be the first option for disposing of expired or unusable medicines followed by burying the consignments, as is being done within the premises of the CHCs and the PHCs. “Now, through the strengthening of the health services scheme, we are allocating additional funds to deal with the disposal of medicines,” she said.
The health minister said the director of health services (DHS) has been mandated to form committees with members from the pollution control board and drugs authority for transparency.
Lyngdoh also said the mission director of the National Health Mission has been asked to form a committee to find out about the contamination of water sources due to the dumping of expired medicines. An NGO had flagged the possible environmental damage.
She confirmed having received a preliminary report from the DHS. “This will be sent to the bureaucrats to study and inquire further,” she added.
“I will try to correct the wrong practice being followed in Meghalaya for a long time,” she said.
