Thiruvananthapuram: Medicine shortage hits poor patients at General Hospital
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The acute shortage of medicines at the General Hospital, here, has hit hard poor patients, who face imminent life-threatening situations. Pharmacists foresee the shortage worsening into a full-blown crisis in the months ahead. Aspirin, diclofenac (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and pain-reliever), cetrizine (antihistamine for use against allergies) and rantac (acid-reducing medication) have vanished from shelves, forcing patients, most of them very poor, to borrow precious sums to buy medicines from private stores.
Government responds only where there is a media furore. Anti-rabies vaccine and immunoglobulin (a complement used with vaccine) were hastily procured in the wake of dog bite deaths. But medicines like aspirin, diclofenac and rantac, though much cheaper and used for common ailments, continued to be on the hit list. The other day DC spotted several patients in the GH pharmacy queue. Among them was Ms. Khairunnissa, who has a 27-yearold bed-ridden son at home. She incurred Rs 10,000 worth of expenses on medicine and accessories for her daughter’s surgery at the hospital.
“I had to buy lot of medicines from private stores. I am broke and now there is no point in coming back to the General Hospital. I am slowly stopping expensive drugs”, she told DC. Ms. Chellamma, 60, of Pallichal, also echoed a similar sentiment, saying she would stop her visits to GH because she doesn’t have the resources to buy medicines from private medical stores. Dr. Hafiz, GH superintendent-in-charge, denied there was a crisis. “We occasionally face a shortage when there is an increased demand, but they are met at the earliest and medicines are made available at our pharmacies”.
The shortage of medicines started last September 2016 and shows no signs of any letup. Last year, various Government hospitals and health centres in the district raised a demand for medicines worth Rs 55 crore but it was halved to Rs 25 crore by Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited. The GH ended up getting medicines worth Rs 2.11 crore as against a demand for Rs 5.25 crore. “Restore the practice followed till 2012, when drug stores were replenished on the basis of demands made by institutions from time to time”, said a doctor.
