SHILLONG, Feb 10 � Health Minister AL Hek today said a review meeting would be held on Thursday next after several anomalies were reported concerning the Health Department.
One of the reported anomalies related to destruction of medicines worth about Rs 4 crore allegedly by the Health Department after the expiry date of the medicines, even as several community and public health centres of the State experiencing scarcity of medicines. However, Hek, after inquiring into a report from Health Department officials, said there was no such mass destruction of medicines.
�There was no such report,� the Minister said adding a review meeting would be held on Feb 12 to get a clearer picture.
On the other hand, there were also reports that the sole cobalt machine used for cancer treatment has remained out of order since last year and patients are being referred outside the State for treatment.
The Minister said the issue would be discussed during the review meeting and if there were �any dereliction of duty� on the part of any health official in this regard, then responsibilities would be fixed.
He added that if the machine is indeed out of order, which he claimed to have no knowledge about, then a new machine would be purchased or the old one urgently fixed so that patients do not suffer.
�We would definitely look into the matter as a priority,� he added.
