KARACHI: Newly registered Hepatitis-C patients in Sindh have been deprived of life-saving drugs for three months as Sindh Health Department has failed to purchase the medicines on time.
The Hepatitis Prevention & Control Program Sindh (an initiative by the chief minister) has been facing an acute shortage of drugs due to the poor supply system and the delay in issuance of the tender by the concerned authorities of Sindh’s health department.
It was discovered on Thursday that newly registered hepatitis-C patients throughout the province are being put on a waiting list by the doctors due to the shortage of drugs at hepatitis centers. While the already registered patients are receiving medicines on a regular basis, unfortunately, the newly registered are deprived of the medication.
According to sources, the newly registered patients at the hepatitis centers in Civil Hospital Karachi, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Sindh Government Qatar Hospital, Sindh Government Hospital Liaquatabad and other government hospitals, deprived of drugs, are facing great inconvenience.
Similarly, the newly registered patients in Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur and other districts of the province are being advised by the doctors to purchase medicines from private medical stores.
The shortage of medicines in hepatitis centers across the province has badly affected the program’s performance and the inability of a majority of patients to afford the treatment has put their lives at risk.
Hepatitis Prevention & Control Program Sindh’s Media Coordinator, Khurram Khan, has said that the supply of drugs would be resumed to hepatitis centers throughout the province by the end of this month.