PESHAWAR: Health department is going to resolve the longstanding issue of shortage of funds for free provision of medicines to patients after renal transplants at Institute of Kidney Diseases (IKD), Hayatabad Medical Complex.

“We have convened a meeting to resolve the issue of funds for the subsequent medication of post-transplant patients today. The meeting will be attended by officials of finance and health departments besides the present and former directors of IKD,” Health Secretary Amir Sultan Tareen told Dawn.

According to him, the government has been providing funds for free medication to all patients after transplantation but the finance department wants that the medication should be given to only those people, who undergo procedures at IKD.

“We will set criteria for free medication to resolve the issue. IKD is part of HMC, a medical teaching institution but the government wants to help the patients, who deserve free medicines,” he said.

Health secretary says all issues of the institute will be resolved

The health secretary said that a proper mechanism was being devised to help the poor patients and save the money from being wasted. “Additionally, the meeting will also hold detailed discussion regarding resumption of renal transplants at IKD and extra funds for the purpose,” he said.

The institute had stopped renal transplants two years ago and now wants to re-start the procedures to facilities patients.

In February this year, IKD told the health department through a letter that it had 1,200 registered patients, who received medicines after transplants on monthly basis and on average 50 to 60 patients visited the nephrology OPD on daily basis where they weren’t only given free anti-rejection drugs after a long process of their clinical evaluation.

The letter said that patients were also subjected to battery of tests and were given drugs as per investigation. It said that the patients were checked by consultants. It added that the cost of investigation was about Rs10,000 per patient that was burden on the institute.

It said that in future, the cost of investigation should be addressed. In case of rejection, the cost of treatment was beyond Rs500, 000. Each year, 120 new patients were registered. Therefore, the provision of funds should be made on sustainable basis not on ad hoc basis, it added.

The letter also said that free medication to only poor patients from Zakat fund should be allowed and only the people undergoing transplants at IKD should be made entitled to the free services as it was huge constraint on health budget to facilities all the patients undergoing transplants anywhere.

Sources in IKD said that in response to many letters for provision of funds, Rs30 million was released in December last year by the government against the demand of Rs122 million.

The process of providing free medicines to kidney transplant patients was resumed on February 4, 2022 that lasted for two months, they added.

They said that since April 11, the patients were not getting free drugs. The patients, who underwent renal transplants in the past and required subsequent medication, were at the receiving end due to non-availability of medicines and the life-saving drugs were expensive and not affordable for most of the people, they added.

The patients needing dialysis on monthly, fortnightly or weekly basis continue to suffer for want of drugs. IKD has been providing free medicines to patients since launching renal transplants and they receive cashless medication on monthly basis.

Sources said that in the past two years, the programme of free medicine had been suspended several times due to insufficient funds.

However, the health secretary said that all the issues of IKD would be resolved.

“The government wants to ensure free medication to post-transplant patients as well as resume transplants at the institute,” he added.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2022