KARACHI, June 12: Some major hospitals run by the city government are going to face severe shortage of essential items including medicines and X-ray films in the near future, said sources in the government. A senior health personnel told Dawn that a few of the hospitals, which had not been accorded financial sanctions for major procurement of hospital for the year so far, were already unable to provide certain medicines, drops, films, mainly to the poor and needy patients. Patients at a couple of hospitals are being asked to purchase the medicines from the market, said sources.

A hospital fears that it would not be able to store the relevant record of patients in computer due to the non-availability of computer items and could stop the normal functioning of the administration.

Expressing apprehensions another senior official of a hospital said that if the items of demand were not procured in time it would be difficult to run major operation theatres and emergencies.

We have been moving the authorities concerned for the procurement of items through tenders from the allocated budget of 2004-05 since December, but to no avail, the official added.

On a few cases, it is learnt, the EDO finance of the city government had given the remark that it was not possible at this stage. Different departments of the government were given a schedule and deadlines in regard to the utilization of funds and situation is likely to go worse as the EDO is not ready to observe any relaxation.

A source said that the repeated change of health EDO could also be cited as a factor behind the delay in the issuance of financial concurrence by the EDO. Consecutive EDOs failed to ensure any congenial working conditions, which also affected the cases of immediate concerns as well, added the source.

However, independent sources said that the development in question, related to the procurement of medicines and other items through tenders, was another typical example of financial practices observed normally by the governments of all level. Be it district/city or provincial and federal government, all wake up only when the financial year nears its end, a source observed and feared that if the matter was not taken appropriately, apart from sticking up of allocated fund, a large number of patients would have to suffer miserably.

An eye hospital had submitted its case after fulfilling all codal formalities but it was not being accorded financial concurrence for purchasing medicines, X-ray films, eye camp medicines and computer items amounting to over Rs2.8 million.

Its officials were of the view that if the items were not provided the hospital would collapse, surgeries would have to be stopped, and eye camp services and other field works would be jeopardized soon.

It was learnt that most of the hospitals had purchased essential medicines and other items almost about a year back, which had already been exhausted and new bulk purchases through tenders were not made on priority basis then nothing could be predicted about the poor patients’ plight.

The Homoeopathic Hospital and Sobhraj Maternity Hospital are included in the list of the affected hospitals.

When contacted, the DO Hospital Groups of the city government, Dr Humayun Farrukh, said on Friday that if the purchases were not made a huge amounts pertaining to different hospitals would lapse, while any new purchase could not be possible before August or September.