KARACHI: The patients of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) are compelled to purchase medicines from the market as there is medicine shortage in the hospital for last several weeks.
An official of the pharmacy department, on the condition of anonymity, told PPI that the hospital has been facing 50 per cent shortage of medicines for last few weeks due to delay in issuance of tender. He said that visiting and out-patients have been compelled to purchase medicines from private medical stores.
He said that JPMC is one of the largest tertiary care government hospitals in Sindh, where patients from all over Pakistan come for treatment, but drugs are not available in the institution due to the traditional lethargy of high-ups of the health department.
He informed that although the administration is providing lifesaving medicines to patients with the emergency requirement, but a majority of OPD and admitted patients have been deprived of drugs. He said stock of medicines has almost ended in the hospital and provincial health authorities could not arrange medicine yet which was affecting poor patients visiting the hospital.
The shortage of drugs in the hospital has compelled poor patients to purchase medicines from private medical stores.
The Official said that as many as 2,500 to 3,000 patients visit different OPDs of the hospital every day and patients had to stand in queues for hours to get medicines but they do not get all medicines prescribed by doctors due to a shortage of medicines in the store.
The hundreds of poor patients face hardships as they are compelled to buy injections, drips and other medicines from private medical stores. The patients were being advised by doctors to buy medicines, drips and syringes from medical stores as these medicines were not available in the hospital pharmacy.