Cuts in Chloroquine supply fuel Malaria epidemic

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 March 1998, 23:59 GMT]
Every day, at least five thousand civilians in the Vanni seek treatment for Malaria say medical sources in the north.

They said that at the Mallavi hospital alone, 8700 civilians afflicted with Malaria turned up for medication in the months of January and February this year.

Doctors say despite the epidemic proportions of the disease in the Vanni, the government has severely limited the supply of Chloroquine.

The medical authorities in the Vanni had requested two hundred thousand Chloroquine tablets for the first quarter of 1998 to deal with the situation.

But MoD and the Ministry of Health have allowed only 25000 they said.