BAHAWALPUR: An acute shortage of medicines in the Bahawal Victoria Hospital (BVH) is adding to the sufferings of both in- and- outdoor thousands of patients daily.

With essential medicines unavailable in wards and outpatient departments (OPDs), patients and their families are urging the Punjab chief minister to intervene and resolve the crisis on an urgent basis.

Dawn has learned that BVH received only Rs530 million in medicine funds for the first quarter of the current fiscal year far below the Rs1,250 million requested. As a result, patients are forced to purchase life-saving and paediatric medicines from the open market at exorbitant prices.

When contacted, BVH Medical Superintendent Dr Aamir Mahmood Bokhari confirmed the medicine shortage. He stated that the Punjab health department had released only the first quarterly installment of Rs530m, which has now been exhausted.

The hospital is still awaiting the second quarterly installment, and the delay has severely impacted medicine availability. Efforts are underway to secure the required funds at the earliest, and he expressed hope that the government would release them soon.

With over 2,000 beds, BVH is one of south Punjab’s largest hospitals. Officials report that more than 6,000 patients from Bahawalpur, surrounding suburbs, and Lodhran seek medical care at the emergency ward and OPDs daily, in addition to thousands of inpatients requiring medicines.

The suspension of medical funds by the Punjab government has worsened the situation, leaving thousands of patients without essential medicines. Many attendants are left with no choice but to buy medicines at unaffordable prices or watch their loved ones suffer - some even losing their lives due to the lack of treatment.

This alarming crisis demands immediate government intervention. Authorities must release the pending quarterly installment without delay and increase the hospital’s annual medicine budget to meet the needs of thousands of deserving patients.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2025