Bhubaneswar: Stepping up their demand for free medicines prescribed by their consulting doctors for the treatment, kidney patients blocked the road between Raj Bhavan and AG Square in front of the residence of Odisha Health Minister Naba Kishore Das in Bhubaneswar.
Vehicular movement was affected as several patients staged the road blockade by squatting on the Rajpath to press their demand. They have been staging a dharna in the state capital for the last 13 days.
As the patients continued their protest, the Health Minister had on November 10 had said that he has given necessary directions to the department to solve their problems.
On the steps taken by the government on the issues raised by the protesters, the Minister had said, “I have already given direction to the department in this regard. The department has already held a meeting to find a solution to the issue. I have instructed the department to resolve the matter soon.”
The patients have been sitting on a dharna near the Minister’s residence demanding free medicine prescribed by their consulting doctors for the treatment. The government hospitals are not providing those medicines, they claimed.
As their meeting with Health secretary on the issue had failed to yield any result, they continued their agitation. Earlier, they had taken up the matter with the Minister but he had reportedly not conceded to their demand and advised them to take the medicines prescribed by the government doctors.
The protesters alleged that the government doctors were prescribing blacklisted medicines. Already 25 persons have lost their lives and 18 persons complained that their condition was not improving after consuming those medicines. “We asked the Minister to launch a probe into the incident which has been pending since 2021 but he sought seven days to initiate the probe,” they said.
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