Lifecare at TVM Medical College to ease patients’ woes
Lifecare Centre, a specialty outlet by HLL Lifecare Limited at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital to sell medical devices and life-saving drugs at affordable rates to patients, was opened on September 26. Inaugurating the new initiative, Honourable Health Minister Shri Adoor Prakash said the state government would join hands with HLL to open such centres at other medical colleges also in the public sector.
HLL set up the Lifecare centre in collaboration with the State Health and Family Welfare Department as the first such exclusive outlet to sell quality surgical implants, medical devices and life-saving drugs at affordable prices. In the first phase, orthopaedic implants and instruments will be made available and later the portfolio will be expanded to include all other devices and life-saving drugs. The centre will work from 8 am to 8 pm in the beginning with 10 staff and later its functioning will extend round the clock.
“HLL is making this market intervention to ensure transparency and uniformity in the prices of medical devices and drugs. Our attempt is to remove the chaos and uncertainty prevailing in the sector. Besides, it will also benefit the poor and weaker sections of society by providing the necessary medical goods under one roof,’’ HLL Chairman and Managing Director Shri M Ayyappan said.
“HLL is planning to set up such outlets across the country and is already in talks with Orissa government in this regard,” HLL Senior Vice President Shri Babu Thomas informed. The centre at Thiruvananthapuram MCH was opened as a pilot project and the scheme would be further improved based on the inputs from the healthcare personnel and patients, he added.