Thousands of poor patients are forced to buy expensive medicines from the markets despite the fact that the government-run hospitals in Rawalpindi have been given adequate funds for providing free medicines to the poor.
According to the reports, there is no stock of medicine available in the government hospitals for the patients. The administration of the hospitals said that the government has given a grant of Rs 550 million for the whole year for the three government-run hospitals i.e. Holy Family, Benazir Shaheed Hospital and the District Headquarters Hospital.
They said that this amount is insufficient for a large number of people visiting the hospitals. They said that medicines are provided free of cost in the emergency wings where around two million people are attended in a year.
The majority of patients have said that they visit the government run hospitals because they cannot afford the consultation fee of doctors and medicines. But they are being told to purchase the medicines from the market. The patients said that many of them cannot even afford one time food.
The hospitals’ administration said they cannot provide free medicines to all the patients until the budget is doubled for the purpose.
The district and tehsil headquarters hospitals in Chakwal, Attock, and Gujjar Khan refer the patients to Rawalpindi as they lack adequate treatment facilities particularly for those who require treatment in an emergency. This situation is worrisome for the patients.