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Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd plays pivotal role in curbing Covid-19

Apr 28, 2020, 14:08 IST
PTI
Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 28() Uninterrupted delivery ofmedicines, clinical devices and PPE kits to the vast networkof government hospitals is the backbone of Kerala's battleagainst COVID-19, thanks to the relentless efforts of KMSCL inkeeping the supply chain moving despite lockdown constraints. A fully-owned state government company under the Healthand Family Welfare Department, Kerala Medical ServicesCorporation Ltd(KMSCL) has also played a pivotal role instepping up the state's testing facilities. Health Minister K K Shailaja has held a series ofmeetings and guided the team to put in place an effectiveepidemic control and mitigation mechanism. As many as 18 committees, including the one forprocurement and supply chain management through KMSCL, wereformed.

There were daily reviews and on the basis of theirfeedback, appropriate guidance was provided to all verticals,including that for the procurement management. On Januaury 30, when the country's first COVID-19 casewasreported from Kerala, the Rapid Response Team (RRT) set upto counter the pandemic, entrusted the corporation with thetask of material procurement, logistics and supply chainmanagement,a press release said.

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"Meticulous planning and implementation with clinicalprecision are vital for dealing with unusual situations," saidManaging Director of KMSCL, Navjot Khosa. The first thing the corporation did was to constitute aninternal COVID Cell with all department heads as members.

Despite severe logistical constraints imposed by thelockdown, KMSCL organised its operations through teams forfive verticalslogistics, equipment procurement, criticalmedical commodities procurement, ambulance management and ITteam for data management, said General Manager of KMSCL,Dileep Kumar S R.

"The first major challenge was to make available personalprotective gear to the frontline healthcare workers, whichincluded PPE kits, N95 masks, surgical masks, gloves and handsanitizer.

Even in a crisis, the corporation was able to ensure thequality of the commodities by validating the qualitycertifications insisted by Union Government," he said.

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Khosa said though the global supply chain disruption, rawmaterial shortage from China and huge demand nationallycreated hurdles, the company explored all its sources andensured adequate supply without landing into scarcity. Significantly, KMSCL proved to be the backbone of the'break the chain campaign' by mobilising over 500,000 litresof WHO-approved hand sanitizers through its sister concernKerala State Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Another crucial operation of the corporation has beenstrengthening the laboratory network for virus surveillancethrough RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chainreaction), as WHO has emphasized the testing of all suspectedpersons with primary and secondary contacts with the disease.

Thanks to the corporation's continuous efforts, the statecould reach the average number of tests from 500 to 1,200 in aspan of 14 days, which has been a critical factor in Kerala'scontainment policy. Initially, the state had only four testing centres, whichhave now been increased to 14 under the government with 45 PCRmachines.

The approved labs had only one or two PCR machines,severely limiting the number of tests done per day.

Then it was decided to shift the 17 RT-PCR machinesavailable in various university labs to the PCR testing labs. The shifting of all the 17 machines to the labs fromThiruvananthapuram to Kasargod was done by KMSCL within24 hours and their installation was completed in the next 24hours.

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Also, KMSCL was roped in to address the crisis caused bysevere shortage of extraction kit required for the isolationof RNA from the sample, which posed a challenge to thecontinuation of PCR test itself. The testing became a challenge at this juncture due tolockdown across the globe and spread of COVID-19 in Europe andthe USA, the main suppliers of lab consumables. The corporation set up a special team and identified 12suppliers in India and abroad.

The vehicles of KMSCL were rushed to collect the materialfrom all southern states and with the help of the satelliteunit of the state war room, the transportation of these itemsthrough international cargo carriers was sorted out.

It also managed to get supplies even from foreignmanufacturers.

KMSCL has sourced as many as 148 different types ofconsumables required for the PCR labs and ensured smoothsupply to all the testing laboratories, the release said. UD ROH ROH

(This story has not been edited by www.businessinsider.in and is auto–generated from a syndicated feed we subscribe to.)
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