Shanghai residents pool their resources

Several district governments in Shanghai have encouraged residents to share surplus medication with neighbors in light of a temporary shortage of fever medicine in the city.

Among those who have done so is Lou Xingmei, who lives in Shihua, part of Shanghai's Jinshan district.

On Dec 17, Lou set up a shelf stocked with various types of medication — including Lianhua Qingwen capsules, cough syrup and Tylenol — in the lobby of her apartment building.

"All the medicine is free. We are neighbors and we have always helped each other in the past," said Lou, leader of the building that is home to 12 families, seven of them seniors.

"I heard that one neighbor was looking for fever medication a few days ago, and I happened to have some spare tablets," she said.

"Given that it's best we minimize contact with others during this period, I set up a shelf in the lobby so people can pick up what they need."

Lou's kind act prompted even more kindness. Although the shelf has been in the lobby for many days, the items on it have never run out because other residents have also contributed their surplus medication and donated other supplies such as thermometers and antigen test kits.

A similar initiative has been implemented in a community in Baoshan district. Xu Ying, Party chief of the Leye Ercun community committee, said it took just two days to set up a shared box of medicine because residents were so willing to help.

"Given the current circumstances, I wasn't sure if people would be willing to share their medicines, so I was really surprised when many people called to offer their supplies," Xu said.

To minimize the risk of spreading the virus, Xu and community volunteers disinfect all the donated supplies before delivering them to needy residents.

"We also consult the community doctor about the medicines before sending any supplies to residents, and register the information about each donation and delivery. Not only to document good deeds, but also as a way of tracing the drugs for safety reasons," Xu said.

The committee has also collected information about the 115 seniors who live alone in the community and ensured that each of them was assigned a younger volunteer to provide urgent assistance if needed.

Shanghai's community health clinics have also been doing their part to address the current shortage of accessible medication.

For example, many clinics have been splitting boxes of over-the-counter fever pills into smaller packages so more people can access the medication.

The city has up to 2,600 community fever clinics where people can receive medical consultations and basic treatment, as well as consultations online or via the phone.

In an interview with the Xinhua News Agency, Zhong Mingkang, chief pharmacist at the Shanghai Huashan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University, said the reason behind this is that standard boxes of OTC medication often contain more pills than are required for most patients.

The city's health authorities also announced at the end of last year that fever drugs were being distributed to community-level clinics to guarantee treatment for residents at nearby medical institutions.