Maharashtra government hospitals and 18 government-affiliated medical colleges are running out of basic medicines with a surge in daily non-covid related cases. Kaliprasad Ramlakhan, after being bitten by a dog stated that JJ Hospital didn’t even have a stock of basic medicine of tetanus and antibiotics for his treatment.

When asked, Dr. Pallavi Saple, Dean of JJ Hospital stated that they are trying to procure the drugs at the local level and have already floated their requirement list to Haffkine Bio-pharma. The issue of drug shortage in JJ Hospital has also reached the state assembly. Minister Deshmukh, Medical education reprimanded the deans and superintendents of medical colleges for the delay in placing their orders in acquiring the medicines that led to the current crisis. While the said deans and in charge played the blame game and pointed at Haffkine pharm for not meeting their requirements.

Dr. Madhavi K Chaware, Medical Director, Haffkine reasoned technical issues behind the delay. She also briefed about E-Aushadhi, a centralized government portal for the procurement of medicines with real-time updates. Another employee said that about 40% of the company’s strength was working in the vaccines department and they were overwhelmed by the rise in demand for non-covid drugs. 

Meanwhile, the pandemic has disrupted the supply of essentials for production from China and Japan with the drug vendors boycotting the bidding process due to their pending dues of Rs 220 Crores from 18 government hospitals. The situation highlights the discrepancies in medicine procurement with the government sanctioning a fund worth Rs 2,077 Crores in 2020-2022.

Source: The Indian Express