Patients in trouble as medicine shortage hits major hospitals

KARACHI: The patients are affected as medicine shortage has deepened in the hospitals of Sindh due to negligence of health authorities.

All the major hospitals of Karachi, including Civil Hospital Karachi, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, National Institute of Child Health, Sindh Government Hospital Liaquatabad, Korangi, New Karachi, Saudabad, Ibrahim Haidery, and Lyari General Hospital have been facing medicine shortage.

Health Department Sindh has failed to purchase life-saving medicines through its Centerlized Procurement Committee for health facilities of the province.

The hospitals of Hyderabad, Larkana, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas, Shaheed Benazirabad and other cities are also facing shortage of life-saving medicines. The medicines for patients suffering from chronic diseases, including infectious, were not available in the government hospitals.

The surgical equipment stock has also finished in all the health facilities and patients have been compelled to buy drugs or other surgical instruments from markets. The shortage of drugs has badly affected the patients care in the province. Sources at health department told PPI that shortage of medicines in hospitals of Sindh had been a problem since the beginning of the current fiscal year, which had affected the operation of health facilities of the province.

CHK Medical Superintendent Dr Mohammad Tofique told PPI that drugs stock had almost ended in the health facility and the hospital administration was providing medicines to the admitted patients through local purchase.

Dr Tofique said: “Arrangements for life-saving drugs for 7000 OPD, 1500 emergency and 2000 admitted patients on daily basis is a tough task but the administration is striving hard to provide medicines to all these patients.”