Trinidad/Tobago: free drugs for seniors, poor

Trinidad and Tobago is to introduce a new Chronic Disease AssistancePlan which will provide around 100,000 poor and elderly people with free health care and medication, according to Health Minister Colm Imbert, who estimated that the plan will cost the government about $15 million annually.

In the first phase of the CDAP, senior citizens and poor people will be entitled to receive 20 drugs for the treatment of diabetes, hypertension, glaucoma and some cardiac diseases, the Caribbean Media Corp news agency has reported.

The Minister stated that "leakage and mismanagement" would be dealt with, while the country's Pharmacy Board has warned that it will take punitive action against any pharmacy that violates the principles of the plan. More than 500 pharmacists, 230 private pharmacies and 400 doctors in private practice will take part in the program, with prescriptions being filled at either private or public institutions, he added.