Drug scarcity in govt hospitals is ‘artificial’, claim officials

NT Correspondent
Bengaluru

Some government hospitals in the city are facing a shortage of key medicines and authorities claim it is an artificial one, caused by inaction and procedural delays. The officials clarified that there were two types of procurement: central and local. Central procurement refers to Karnataka State Medical Suppliers Corporation Ltd (KSMSCL) acquiring drugs from companies through a tender process and dispensing it to government hospitals, Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and Urban Health Centres (UHCs).

Local procurement is the government health facilities buying the medicines from other distributors. Officials said that there were some hold-ups in the tender process and under such circumstances; the government hospitals should have acquired the drugs from local distributors, which they didn’t, leading to an ‘artificial scarcity’.

The Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare Services (HFWS) D Randeep said: “Ideally there shouldn’t be drug scarcity. If there is a scarcity, it is an artificially created one. When KSMSCL after giving its supply schedule and is saying x number of drugs will not be available. It is the hospitals’ AMO (Assistant Medical Officers), RMO (Resident Medical Officers) and medical superintendents’ responsibility to stock those drugs.

These are very commonly available things like paracetamol, IV cannula and syringes,” he said. “The reason why we could not procure it is not because we could not call a tender, but because of reasons like the bidder has quoted too high a price or lack of adequate number of bids. Some 200 drugs are in the re-bidding process.

Meanwhile, we have told the hospitals, when you know these drugs will not come for the next one and a half months, there is no point in throwing your hands up in the air and saying supplies have not come. You proactively purchase and stock it,” he added.

KSMSCL Managing Director Nagaraja echoed similar sentiments and added that any scarcity could be solved by way of local procurement. “Whenever they require drugs, injections etc, they can buy it. Government has released sufficient money for that,” he said. He added that KSMSCL was in possession of over 50 drugs but they were in line to receive 200 more. “There was some delay in the tendering process. It is under process. Drugs are procured all around the year. We have already issued a purchase order for 200 drugs,” Nagaraja said.

Co removed from blacklist: KSMSCL

Nagaraja said that other bidders raising objections against a particular UP-based company winning tenders despite being blacklisted by the Chhattisgarh medical supply corporation was not fair since the company was removed from the blacklist.

He insisted that Karnataka’s process of drug-related tenders was very transparent. Randeep added that the completion of the tender process would eventually set the supply right. “So what has happened is the entire drug cycle, 465 or so drugs, and one round is done under which around 200 odd drugs have been included and supplies will continue for a year. What is not included is now re-tendered, which will take one and a half months. August onwards, there should be no issue. About 90 per cent of the drugs are supplied by KSMSCL itself,” he said.

“We have taken a commitment letter from KSMSCL itself saying what the supply schedule will be. We have made a list of 200 drugs where the supply schedule will start from this month itself. Hospitals don’t have to bother. They can reach out to KSMSCL. They have also given a list of 150 drugs for which the supply schedule will begin from the month of July or August. That list has been separately shared with the DHOs for onward communication to the government hospitals saying here you do not wait for KSMSCL to supply you,” he added.