Bhopal: List of essential medicines incomplete at Gandhi medical college

Bhopal: The list of essential medicines at the OPD of Gandhi Medical College (GMC), the largest tertiary care hospital in the state capital has a total of only 35 medicines, with medicines beginning with the letters S to Z being completely absent. The fact came to light when the district chief medical and health officer (CMHO) Dr. Veena Sinha brought anti-malaria medicines to meet demands of the hospital.

Essential medicines like salbutamol for bronchial asthma, tinidazole (anti-diarrhoea), vancomycin, xylocaine and zinc tablets to name a few were found to be missing.

The medical store room outside the hospital displays an essential list of medicines and includes about 64 medicines. Sources said the list was missing the last eight letters of the alphabet list, as the committee that was formed 4 years back to prepare a list of  the essential medicines was in a hurry to finish the job. A steno got a print of the list in alphabetical order, choosing 35 medicines, as reported by  ET Health world.

"We have brought this glaring error to the notice of directorate of medical education (DME) and other administration officials. Most of top consultants highlighted the problem. A list of 1,200 medicines to be procured as essential drugs has been prepared, awaiting approval," said a GMC official.

"For the moment, medicines would be available from the JP hospital stock. In long term, the GMC can procure its medicine requirement from the state government procurement agency," said CMHO Veena Sinha.