Acute shortage of essential drugs

Thiruvananthapuram: With  the Kerala Medical Services Corporation (KMSCL), finding no bidders for 130 drugs featuring in the mandatory list, many hospitals are facing shortage of drugs meant for treatment of cancer and other serious ailments.

The drugs, which are part of the 830 medicines listed  under Essential Drugs List (EDL) and Rationalised Drugs List (RDL), have not been supplied to hospitals as the companies have shirked bids citing insufficient demand.

The KMSCL, which is the central procurement agency for all essential drugs for all public health care institutions under the government, went for re-tender.

But none responded positively following which the corporation issued Non-Availability Certificates (NAC) to hospitals which had placed the demand for these medicines. NAC allows individual hospitals to go for purchase of medicines outside KMSCL in emergency situations.

Apart from cancer medicines, there is a shortage of therapeutic drugs for neuro, gastro, cardio and nephro diseases.  Sources said shortage of these drugs has been reported in some  hospitals, including district, general and taluk, causing inconvenience to the patients.

Meanwhile, KMSCL which organised a workshop on the requirement of medicines in government hospitals, especially the drugs listed under EDL and RDL last month, is in favour of trimming the number of medicines in the mandatory list to avoid such situations in future.

Doctors and pharmacists from medical college hospitals to  taluk hospitals, who participated in the workshop, suggested that only 550 of the 830 drugs featuring in the existing list were required in government medical institutions.