HYDERABAD, Oct 6: The Civil Hospital of Hyderabad is facing difficulties in meeting its medicine requirements as it has not been provided with 75 per cent of the budget for medicines by the import and inspection depot, Karachi.

Sources in the Civil Hospital told this correspondent that the hospital would run short of medicines if the remaining amount was not released by the I.I. depot immediately.

Inquiries showed that the hospital should have received the 75 per cent budget in shape of medicines at the beginning of the current fiscal year.

Sources said tenders had not yet been invited by the I.I. depot.

The Civil Hospital gets Rs46 million in the head of medicines from the I.I. depot which is 75 per cent of the total budget of selected medicines and the rest of 25 per cent is obtained through local purchase in different wards whenever needed.

Given the rate of bed occupancy, figures of the Out Patient Department and expenses on medicines, the hospital faces a deficit close to Rs31 million.

The I.I. depot provides the medicines budget to government-run tertiary hospitals. The CHH has to look after Jamshoro and city branches as well as the eye hospital from the budget.

The Civil Hospital sources said there was a turnout of 1.4 million patients in a year in the OPD and on the average if Rs25 was spent on each patient for medicines per day, Rs36,500,000 per annum would be needed for medicines.

About 1,130 beds in the 1300-bed hospital remain occupied by patients on whom Rs100 per day is spent for three times of medicines. Around 412,450 patients occupied beds in a year, bringing the expenses of their medicines to Rs41,245,000.

Sources said expenses of the OPD and indoor patients were estimated at Rs77.7 million.

Since the budget has not been released to the CHH, it depends on local purchases.

For local purchases of medicines, the hospital receives Rs100 million in two instalments. Besides, the federal government provides Rs2 million from the Zakat fund.

The CHH administration has demanded that the government should increase the Zakat money for the hospital.

Local purchase is meant for medicines not available in the hospital’s medical store and medicines delivered by the I.I. depot are largely used in the OPD.

The Civil Hospital recently purchased drips of Rs1 million which should have been provided by the I.I. depot.

Sources said the budget for medicines was released late every year but this time more than three months had passed and the same had yet to be received.

The CHH also faces constraints in the diet’s budget.