LARKANA, Feb 23: The Chandka Medical College Hospital is running short of medicines as the Sindh health department has so far provided hardly 20 per cent of the sanctioned medicines to it. This was revealed by inquiries by this correspondent.

After the budget allocations in July, first tranche of medicines usually arrived in the hospital by September, sources told this correspondent. However, they added, this time the drug supply had been delayed which had led to the suffering of poor patients admitted to the hospital.

Late purchase of medicine had caused the delay, sources said and added that not only the CMCH but also other hospitals attached with medical colleges in Sindh were facing similar situation.

According to sources, the CMCH management had tried to overcome the problem by buying drugs through money recovered through users charge but the medicines turned out to be insufficient.

The CMCH did not have a single vial of any antibiotic injection provided through import and inspection depot of the health department which had supplied a meagre quantity of glucose drips and cotton rolls, they said.

During the governments of political parties in the country, the hospital had been receiving medicines in time and they had been purchased at lower rates, a source privy to the matter said.

CMCH Medical Superintendent Dr Syed Mehboob Shah, in a letter to the health secretary on Dec 3 last year, drew his attention towards small budgetary allocations for drug supply to the hospital, saying that under the situation, it was difficult to properly run the tertiary hospitals.

The MS also indicated a disparity in the drug budgets of civil hospitals of Karachi and Hyderabad, People's Medical College Hospital and the CMCH. He said that the number of beds at the CMCH (1,230) exceeded those of the PMCH (750) and CHH (1,200) but the CMCH was receiving lesser amount than them.

He said that it was difficult to manage the affairs of the CMCH, specially medicine and diet, for which it had 1/3rd of the budgets of the CHH and PMCH. Dr Shah recommended that the drug/diet budget of his hospital should be increased by re-allocating the savings from the entire hospital budget of 2002-3.

Endorsing the proposal, District Nazim Khursheed Ahmed Junejo sent a letter to the Sindh finance secretary on Jan 16, requesting him to increase the CMCH budget

The CMCH MS held a meeting with the finance secretary in Karachi on Feb 18 and apprised him about the difficulties the hospital was facing in terms of medicine and diet budget.

The secretary agreed to look into the matter and promised to soon find out a way out to meet the urgent requirements of the CMCH, it was learnt. The health secretary had also seconded the proposal of the CMCH MS for reallocation of the budgetary savings of the hospital, sources said.

However, they insisted, the need of the hour was an immediate supply of medicines to the hospital which catered to the needs of patients from upper Sindh and adjoining areas of Balochistan.