The head office of the Chemist & Druggist Association, Kangpokpi District (CDAKD), was formally inaugurated at Kangpokpi district headquarters on Thursday, with the association seeking government support for a proposed round-the-clock Community Ambulance Project to strengthen emergency medical services across the district.
SDC-HQ Kangpokpi, Papao Touthang, MCS, representing Kangpokpi Deputy Commissioner Hemant Kumar, IAS, inaugurated the office by cutting the ribbon in the presence of leaders of local bodies, while Evangelist Seijang Chongloi dedicated the office.
David Letgoulien Gangte, Drugs Inspector-in-Charge, Kangpokpi, and Seilam Singsit, Chairman of the Kangpokpi Town Committee, attended the programme as guests of honour.
The Chemist & Druggist Association Kangpokpi District is a district-level body representing the pharmaceutical trade and pharmacy community in Kangpokpi, seeking to function beyond the conventional role of a traders’ body by serving as a broader platform for the pharmaceutical community to ensure access to medicines, strengthen and safeguard the pharmaceutical supply chain, promote lawful and regulated drug trade, support safe healthcare delivery and raise issues affecting healthcare services in the district.
On the occasion, the association sought financial assistance from the Manipur government for its proposed Community Ambulance Project, aimed at providing 24-hour emergency medical transportation across Kangpokpi.
In a representation submitted to Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh through the Deputy Commissioner of Kangpokpi, the association said security challenges and disruptions along roads had severely affected emergency medical transportation in the district, leaving people in remote areas vulnerable to potentially life-threatening delays in reaching referral hospitals.
Critically injured persons, pregnant women, elderly patients and other emergency cases were particularly vulnerable due to the lack of dedicated ambulance services, it said.
Under the proposed project, the association plans to procure and operate a fully equipped ambulance on a non-profit basis to provide round-the-clock emergency services across the district.
The association said its members were pooling resources towards the initiative but the cost of procuring and equipping a fully fitted emergency ambulance was beyond its financial capacity.
It has therefore appealed to the Chief Minister to extend financial assistance or grant-in-aid for procurement of one ambulance unit for public service in Kangpokpi.
The proposed service, the association said, would strengthen emergency medical response and ensure timely transportation of patients, particularly those from remote and vulnerable communities.
Meanwhile, the association has also appealed to the Deputy Commissioner to provide dedicated digital infrastructure for its newly inaugurated head office to facilitate digitisation of its administrative work and regulatory compliance.
It has sought two desktop computer sets, along with printers and essential peripherals, to facilitate online drug licensing, official correspondence with the Health Department and other administrative functions.
The association said the equipment would also facilitate digital record-keeping of registered pharmacies and medicine supplies across the district, besides improving coordination of emergency medicine drives and local public health initiatives.
It said dedicated digital infrastructure would enable the association to establish an efficient administrative system and further strengthen its public-service activities in the district.
