RAWALPINDI, Dec 3: The provincial health department has turned down the request of various districts to fix medicine prices for procurement to public hospitals, official sources told Dawn on Monday.

They said several district health departments, after facing problems in procurement of drugs, had approached the provincial health department to fix the prices at which they could procure medicines for the public hospitals.

The provincial health minister, Prof (Dr) Mehmood Ahmad Chaudhry, is learnt to have directed the heads of the district health departments to make local arrangements for the procurement of the drugs, following the official procedures.

The minister, while rejecting the proposal for fixing the drug prices, observed that such an intervention would be violative of the spirit of the devolution plan.

The medicines, prior to the implementation of the devolution plan, were procured at the provincial level through Medical Stores Department. However, after the establishment of the district governments, this responsibility has been shifted to the health departments of the new district set-up.

Meanwhile, it has been noticed that the district health dispensations are facing problems in procurement of medicines due to certain “unforeseen factors”. Several districts had also invited tenders from the supplier firms, after which wide variations in the prices of drugs was witnessed.

Moreover, the provincial health departments have informed its district-level set-ups that hiring of doctors and para- medical staff on contract-basis will soon be allowed to overcome the problem of staff shortage in the public hospitals.

According to the health minister’s directives, the contracts of the existing staff could be extended upto three years. The district health authorities have been told that they can extend the contract upto three years, but it will be preferable if annual contracts are given.