PESHAWAR: District health officers in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have complained about the shortage of essential drugs and asked the health department for supplies cleared by the drug testing laboratory to cater for patients and prevent objections by the audit department.

Official documents available with Dawn reveal that around 40 medicines purchased by the province’s directorate-general (health services) were found to be “substandard, misbranded, or both” during examination at the DTL in the last three months.

In a letter to the directorate on April 6, the DHO of Kohat district highlighted the “critical shortage of essential medicines” at the health facilities supervised by him.

“Unfortunately, we have not yet received the ‘top-up’ medicines requested to address their acute shortage. With Eid holidays only two days away, this lack of supplies poses a significant challenge,” he said.

Ask dept for supplies cleared by testing lab to prevent audit objections

The DHO said the medicine distribution required the DTL’s clearance to avoid audit objections.

“Without it, supplies might not be made, as I (DHO) am already facing the advanced audit paragraph from last year because of the DTL clearance prior to the distribution of medications,” it said.

The official sought the directorate’s immediate intervention to ensure uninterrupted patient care at Kohat’s public sector health centres during Eid days and beyond.

“We require a swift and effective arrangement to guarantee the availability of essential medicines at our facilities, which are already facing severe shortages,” he said.

Sources in the health department told Dawn that in the last four months, 38 drugs as well as disposable items were found to be either substandard, misbranded, or both, which should have been cleared by the DTL prior to their procurement.

They added that most drug manufacturers or suppliers were locals, while in some cases, the suppliers had given “misbranded” goods to the health department, which bought them for all government hospitals in the province.

“The government claims to have made enough supplies to the hospitals recently, but a report by the Independent Monitoring Board has pointed out a shortage of essential medicines in most hospitals,” an official insisted.

He added that those drugs were procured from the firms, most of which didn’t meet criteria, due to “poor inspection” by authorities.

“More than 50 per cent of the firms have been paid by the health department despite testing the failure of their items at the DTL. Only last week, the department purchased Rs4 billion medicines and other goods, but the DHOs have yet to receive them, much to the misery of patients, especially those with injuries or in critical condition,” he said.

The official said most recently, the DTL detected “particles” in a commonly used injection supplied by a Lahore-based company.

A DHO told Dawn on condition of anonymity, that he was afraid of accepting drugs without their clearance by the DTL, as such an act could be objected to by the audit department and could even lead to action by the National Accountability Bureau.

“I, like other DHOs, want all medicines, surgical items, and chemicals to be tested and cleared by the DTL before dispatch to hospitals,” he said.

When contacted, DG (health) Dr Shaukat Ali claimed that no drug purchased by the department had been tested substandard or misbranded.

“We are in the process of medicine procurement for and supply to the district hospitals. This exercise will be completed by May 15. All drugs will be cleared by the DTL,” he said.

Dr Ali said if any medicine failed the DTL testing, its supplier wouldn’t be paid.

He said the shortage of drugs was caused by the non-release of government funds in the last two years.

“Now, the process of medicine procurement is in progress,” he said, adding that the DHOs were purchasing drugs on their own to address shortages.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2024