Private Pharmacies Thriving Due To Drug Shortages In Teaching Hospitals
Teaching hospitals are expected to stock 712 varieties of medicines. But the average availability has fallen to around 400: Reports
KURNOOL: With shortage of drugs at the government teaching hospitals across Andhra Pradesh, patients seeking specialised treatment are facing an increased financial burden, as they are forced to buy medicines from private pharmacies operating in and around the hospital campuses.
Many medicines are unavailable at the government pharmacies. Patients often have to buy them from private medical shops. The problem is particularly severe for patients travelling hundreds of kilometres to teaching hospitals in search of affordable specialised healthcare.
According to doctors, teaching hospitals are expected to stock 712 varieties of medicines. But the average availability has fallen to around 400, accounting for less than 60 per cent of the requirement.
At Kurnool Government General Hospital (GGH), patients arrive from places nearly 150 km away. More than half of them are reportedly turning to private pharmacies to purchase prescribed medicines. Three private medical shops operate within the hospital premises.
N. Lakshmi Narasamma, a resident of Kosigi mandal, said she had come to the Kurnool GGH for treatment of a urological problem. The medicines prescribed to her are unavailable at the hospital.
“I came here hoping to receive treatment and medicines at an affordable cost. Since the medicines prescribed by the doctor were not available, I had to purchase them from a private medical shop inside the hospital,” she said.
This situation is not confined to Kurnool. Patients at teaching hospitals in Nandyal, Kadapa, Proddatur, Ongole, and Nellore also have to depend on private pharmacies.
Kurnool hospital superintendent Dr. K. Venkateswarlu, however, said medicines were available in considerable quantities. But some postgraduate doctors are not prescribing the medicines available in the hospital. “Some patients prefer private pharmacies because they do not have confidence in medicines supplied by government hospitals,” he stated.
However, doctors point to inadequate supplies and reduced budgetary allocations as major reasons for the problem. While ₹.197 crore had been spent on medicines for teaching hospitals last year, doctors say the allocation for the first two quarters of the current financial year has not been even 35 per cent of last year's expenditure.
Andhra Pradesh has 17 medical colleges with affiliated teaching hospitals, each receiving more than 2,000 outpatients a day. According to estimates, at least 700 patients at each hospital are purchasing medicines from private pharmacies daily, adding substantially to their out-of-pocket expenditure.
The functioning of private pharmacies within government hospital campuses has raised concerns over regulation and accountability. Allegations that pharmacy operators enjoy political patronage and that some make payments to political leaders have fuelled demands for scrutiny. These allegations have not been independently established.
