THE decision by the provincial gover-nment in Punjab to supply free medicines to underprivileged cardiac patients through courier service is commendable.

Indeed, it is heartening to learn that the government realised the misery of vulnerable and hapless patients, and took such a patient-friendly step to facilitate the patients coming for treatment at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) in Lahore.

It is a fact that people come to public-sector hospitals mostly to get free medicines besides medical advice from the authorised medical practitioners. These hospitals are jam-packed with patients coming from far-flung areas just to get free medicines. Prices of medicines are skyrocketing, and there are frequent increases in the prices due to one reason or the other.

There is a dire need to extend such a facility to patients suffering from other chronic illnesses, such as those having mental health issues as well as neurological problems.

My suggestion is that policymakers in the provincial health department should pay heed to the plight of the mentally-challenged patients because they come to the Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH) not only from remote areas of the province, but from other parts of the country, too, incurring huge expenses in transportation just to get free medicines.

Sometimes the cost of transportation is more than the price of medicines they get. Sometimes the patients have to be accompanied by attendants, which adds to the financial woes.

Provision of free medicines through courier service in such cases will facilitate the patients, and will decrease the rush at health facilities, which will let the doctors focus on new patients with respect to diagnosis and treatment.

Such a patient-friendly step by the Punjab government should have really been taken years ago, but a beginning can still be made. It is never too late.

Farooq Bashir Butt
Lahore

Published in Dawn, January 6th, 2025