The alleged shortage has affected palliative care services as well as primary, family health and district hospitals, Vijayan said.
Thiruvananthapuram: Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday alleged that government hospitals across Kerala were facing an acute shortage of medicines and accused the UDF government of weakening the public healthcare system to benefit private hospitals.
In a Facebook post, Vijayan claimed that essential medicines, including paracetamol, IV fluids and anti-rabies drugs, were unavailable at government hospitals.
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Shortage of medicines and medical equipment
Vijayan alleged that stocks of 209 medicines and medical equipment for the current financial year had not yet reached hospitals.
He said antibiotics, cardiac medicines, drugs for acidity and doxycycline, which is used to prevent leptospirosis, were among the items in short supply.
Medicines for fever, pain, infections, diabetes and hypertension, as well as various injections, were also reportedly facing shortages, he alleged.
According to Vijayan, the shortage was affecting primary and family health centres as well as district hospitals. He said the situation had also affected palliative care services.
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Allegations over KMSCL procurement
Vijayan attributed the shortage to frequent changes in senior positions at the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd (KMSCL), which handles medicine procurement, along with delays in re-tendering and the failure to issue purchase orders for medicines and equipment on time.
He alleged that administrative delays had contributed to the failure to ensure adequate supplies to government hospitals.
Recent reporting has also pointed to delays in KMSCL's re-tendering process and shortages involving medicines ranging from paracetamol and antibiotics to cancer and cardiac drugs.
Allegation of favouring private hospitals
Vijayan alleged that the UDF government was “deliberately” delaying medicine procurement to create opportunities for private hospitals to make excessive profits.
He also alleged, without providing details, that the Congress had received crores of rupees in election funding from major private hospital chains and pharmaceutical companies.
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Call for public protests
Vijayan further alleged that the government was attempting to push ordinary people towards private hospitals by weakening the public healthcare system built by successive Left governments.
He called for public protests against what he described as the government's “negligence and mismanagement” and its alleged denial of treatment to poor patients.
The claims come amid an ongoing procurement-related supply issue at KMSCL. The corporation's official website shows that re-tenders for several categories of medicines and supplies for 2026-27 are currently part of the procurement process.
Published: 26 Sept 2026, 03:10 pm IST
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