Delhi: Lok Nayak Hospital faces shortage of respiratory drugs amid pollution surge
New Delhi: Lok Nayak Hospital, the largest government-run hospital in the capital, is struggling with a shortage of drugs for respiratory illnesses amid the rise in patients due to severe air pollution. The city is covered with a dense fog blanket, and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Delhi.
Toxic air is a recurring problem in Delhi and its neighbouring North India regions, especially during winters. The problem is attributed to a mix of factors such as industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust, dropping temperatures, low wind speeds and the seasonal burning of crop stubble in neighbouring states.
This leads to a sharp increase in patients suffering from cough, breathlessness and other respiratory problems. However, this is not the first time such complaints of breathing problems triggered by air pollution have surfaced, as the problem spikes every winter.
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However, patients visiting Lok Nayak Hospital are now facing another problem, the non-availability of respiratory medicines. Several OPD patients said that many drugs prescribed by doctors were either crossed out or marked “not available” at the hospital pharmacy, forcing them to buy medicines from private shops.
Lok Nayak Hospital, which is expected to have essential medicines such as nebuliser solutions, cough syrups, multivitamins and inhalers, is currently facing shortages of these drugs.
Patients, especially those from a poor background, find it difficult to buy medicines from outside as they get the same from the hospital for free. Therefore, buying medicines from local pharmacies outside is a financial burden for them.
The cost of a metered-dose inhaler (MDI) typically ranges from several hundred to more than a thousand rupees per unit. However, the same medicine is provided free at the hospital. Due to the sharp rise in respiratory cases, the hospital is exhausting its stock of medicines at a rapid pace.
According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, Delhi’s average air quality index (AQI) worsened to 373 on Thursday after showing a slight improvement to 334 on Wednesday from 354 on Tuesday. The air quality had remained in the severe category, with AQI levels above 400, on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
A woman from Daryaganj told the Indian Express, "I was told that Bromhexine syrup and a multivitamin syrup prescribed for my 7-year-old son were out of stock at the hospital pharmacy. Bromhexine is commonly prescribed to thin mucus, ease coughs, and relieve chest congestion in patients suffering from bronchitis. I have been visiting Lok Nayak for years. The shelves had been getting increasingly empty over the past couple of years. You get nothing here; you have to buy medicines from outside."
A 46-year-old man who works as a security guard in Mayur Vihar said, "I did not get MDI Tiova, NAC 600 tablets, and Bromhexine, which had been prescribed for my persistent cough and breathlessness.
A Tiova inhaler, which makes breathing easier by relaxing airway muscles and widening the airways, costs Rs 535. NAC 600, which is used to loosen mucus in the lungs, windpipe, and nasal passage, costs about Rs 330 for 10 tablets. Other commonly prescribed drugs are more expensive – the Seroflo 250 inhaler costs about Rs 914, and the Seroflo 250 Synchrobreathe about Rs 1,040.
The man said, "I stood in line for more than an hour, only to be told that the medicines were not available. I will now have to pay to buy the medicines from outside."
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