With the only pharmacy shop in Samtse under lock and key, residents are concerned. Earlier residents had an option to go across the border and buy medicine but this is not possible now as the shopkeepers do not accept Ngultrum. The pharmacy shop had been closed for three months now, according to the residents there.
Residents say in the absence of a pharmacy shop, they cannot buy the medicines recommended by the doctors. “We have to buy some medicines from the pharmacy shop. The shop here has been closed and across the border they don’t accept Bhutanese currency,” said Dorji, one of the local residents.
The owner of the pharmacy shop is sick and undergoing treatment at the Samtse hospital. He has been admitted in the hospital for quite some time now. He said he would be surrendering his shop license as he could not sit for the competence exam, which is required to apply for a medical shop license
“My eldest son, who is a Health Assistant used to run the shop but he too is sick. I can’t let others run the shop without having the competencies as it is risky both for me and the patients. I will hand over the license to the trade officials,” said Devi Charan Subedi, the owner.
But the problem is expected to be solved to a large extent as the Pharmacy unit of Samtse Hospital has received around 90 percent of the medicines.
