KARACHI, April 10: All hospitals, maternity homes and dispensaries, being run by the city government, have been facing an acute shortage of medicines for the last various months due to the negligence of the city government’s health department.

Sources in the health department said that City Nazim Mustafa Kamal had taken serious notice of the shortage in December 2005, however, despite repeated directives the department had not purchased medicines in bulk so far. The city nazim had approved Rs180 million for the immediate purchase of medicines, sources added.

The health department had called a tender three months ago for purchase of medicines. Some 15 companies had submitted their offers but the department delayed the decision for two months and later cancelled the tender.

When contacted, a health department official said though those companies had submitted their offers to provide medicines in bulk, the city government wanted more bidders, which had compelled the department to cancel the tender.

EDO Health and Medical Superintendent of Abbasi Shaheed Hospital have been empowered to purchase medicines for up to Rs20,000 as well. But these funds too had not been utilized due to customary bureaucratic hurdles, sources said.

Sources said that the MS Abbasi Shaheed Hospital had also cancelled a tender for the purchase of medicines three months ago without any specific reason. Besides, the store department of the hospital had called a tender to buy a dialysis and breast cancer machines on the recommendation of the doctors and sent a file to the MS for approval three months back, but no decision had so far been taken in this regard, sources added.                     The hospitals reeling from medicines’ shortage are Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Spencer’s Eye Hospital, Leprosy Hospital, Sarfaraz Rafique Hospital, Sobhraj Maternity Home, Gazdarabad General Hospital, Gizri Maternity Home and a number of dispensaries.—Online