Kerala: Government Hospitals reel under shortage of drugs

Kozhikode: Amidst a surging number of viral infection cases, the government hospitals in Kozhikode have reported to be affected by a shortage of medicines particularly antibiotics and those necessary to treat diabetes, cholesterol, and hypertension.  

A large number of people are arriving at the outpatient departments of various hospitals with flu symptoms, with the people from marginalized sections being the most affected as they mostly rely on the government hospitals. The shortage of drugs is most prominent in the Government Medical College Hospital, Government General Hospital, Government District Hospital, and the four taluk hospitals at Koyilandy, Perambra, Balussery, Thamarassery, Feroke, Kuttiyadi, and Nadapuram, reports the Hindu. 

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Some of the drugs that the patients are finding difficult to access include azithromycin and amoxicillin, antibiotic drugs; salbutamol, which is used to treat breathing problems such as asthma; pain killer aspirin; doxycycline, commonly used to treat bacterial infections; and even paracetamol tablets and syrup. 

Many patients and their kin are reportedly getting advised by the pharmacy staff associated with the government hospitals to acquire the medicines from private shops. However, the health centres in rural areas are comparatively better as they are able to source funds from respective local bodies to buy drugs. Many gram panchayats are waiting for government permission even though they have allocated funds for the purpose. 

The reason behind the shortage of medicines was cited as the delay by the government to begin the tender process. The indent list for medicines at the medical college hospital is generally given in November every year. 

The state government-owned company, Kerala Medical Service Corporation Limited (KMSCL) are responsible for providing medicines to public sector hospitals and they begin the tender process in February-March. However, this time the tenders were called by May-June. Some of the companies were removed from the list, as they were blacklisted, and fresh ones were included in their place. 

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported about the shortage of anti-rabies vaccines for the past one month at the Government Medical College in Kozhikode. Due to the unavailability of vaccines at the health centres, the patients were sent to other medical colleges and hospitals in Kozhikode. To provide vaccines to the patients, GMC had begun acquiring them from other hospitals in Kozhikode which are also facing the same issue now. 

After repeated requests from authorities, some stocks had arrived in the taluk hospitals. However, the hospital staff claimed that it was insufficient. 

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In addition to the delayed tender, there were few takers for some tenders as well and the change of guard at KMSCL worsened the situation. As per a media report in the Mathrubhumi, the hospital authorities had reportedly submitted the list of the medicines required for this year before March. But the health workers blamed the lapses from the side of Kerala Medical Services Corporation for the shortage of drugs. 

Further, there are some cases pending in other states against Unicure Remedies and Health Biotech, which are two pharma firms that have acquired the lion's share of the order as these two companies had come first in the tendering process for providing 120 drugs. Meanwhile, the Chhattisgarh Medical Corporation has banned Unicure Remedies for four years, which has also adversely affected Kerala, reports the Manorama. 

In some hospitals, the indent is given in August, and the tender process begins by January with the distribution beginning by April. However, the system could not be followed this year. 

The review meetings which were held earlier used to take stock of the availability of medicines were stopped with the claim that the data is available in the government software. Some officials, however, claimed that the data in the software were not updated regularly. The central government had directed the States to procure drugs through its Government e-marketplace (GEM) portal, which also caused the delay. 

The authorities are now trying to address the issue by purchasing medicines from the local market or internally transferring stock with government hospitals in other districts, reports the Hindu. The health department has reportedly started stocktaking of medicines to make a list of those bought from KMSCL and the others purchased using funds from local bodies. 

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