LAHORE, May 25: The city district government hospitals (primary and secondary healthcare facilities) in the province are facing unprecedented shortage of essential medicines owing to ban imposed by the Punjab Health Department on the purchase of 124 essential drugs, it is learnt.

No medicine could be purchased for the city district hospitals all over the province for the last four months except for facilities in Gujranwala and Faisalabad.

Hundreds of health facilities like district headquarters hospitals, rural health centres, basic health units, dispensaries etc, are running short of medicines. The Punjab government's claims about provision of free medicines to the patients at the public-sector hospitals sound hollow in the face of actual situation.

Sources told Dawn the Punjab Health Department had provided a list of 124 essential drugs four months back to the district government hospitals with strict instructions to all the executive district officers (health) that the purchase of these medicines was prohibited “till further orders”.

These medicines were of daily use and patients mostly belonging to the lower and middle class reporting to the said health facilities were forced to purchase the medicines from the open market.

Some EDOs expressed their annoyance over what they said “unrealistic approach” of the authorities for banning purchase of essential medicines. They informed the city district governments about the critical situation at the state-run health facilities without medicines.

They said the health department “relaxed the ban” a couple of weeks ago setting a fixed rate for the purchase of medicines with instructions that they would have to follow this 'benchmark'. The health department also issued codal formalities to be fulfilled before tender and other procedure for the provision of medicine at the government hospitals.

The sources said the EDOs again rejected the new 'restrictions' claiming that the firms supplying medicines were not ready to provide the drugs on the rate fixed by the health department for being lowest.

Later, in order to overcome the crisis at the health facilities, they submitted a proposal to the health department to allow them to adopt the rate-contact of the autonomous institutions like Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in this regard, which was turned down owing to clear violation of PPRA (Public Procurement Regulatory Authority) rules.

Meanwhile, the EDOs of the Gujranwala and Faisalabad districts took risk at their level and purchased the medicines following the rate-contact of the teaching institutions despite ban by the health department.

Health Secretary Dr Muhammad Jehanzeb and Punjab Health Director-General Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam neither attended their cell phones nor responded to the text messages despite repeated attempts.

Health Secretary Muhammad Jehanzaib Khan told Dawn the matter came to his knowledge a couple of weeks ago. He said some companies had agreed to provide medicines at low price after negotiations. The problem would be resolved soon, he said.

He said the provision of medicines to the patients at the state-run health facilities was the priority of the health department. The guidelines with new rate contract had been issued to the CDGs to address the problem amicably, he said.