The UHM’s Health Services Section said that from the little information it had, the pharmacies in the “pharmacy of your choice” scheme would be doing the work that used to be done by the health clinics in every town and village. This meant that if a medicine was out of stock, the patient would still not get it.

The section said it also agreed that everything should be done to eliminate queues and this could be achieved only if the Department of Health invested more in its pharmacies.