MULTAN, March 10: EDOs (health) have failed in procuring emergency medicines and consumables in the Punjab for the ongoing fiscal year although the provincial health secretary had given them March 1 deadline.

Official health facilities in the Punjab, it may be added, could not get medicines and consumables during the last eight months, two-third of the financial year 2001-2002.

As a result, all stocks of medicines, consumables and diagnostic articles at the state-run health facilities have exhausted. Now the hospitals are finding it difficult to handle even emergency cases.

The problem stemmed out with the introduction of the new local body system which empowered the districts to carry out the procurement operation according to their requirements.

Executive district officer (health) of each district had been entrusted the task of calling tenders and ensuring availability of the medicines but without amending the provincial purchase manual to give an EDO the competency to procure medicines to the tune of approximately Rs 20 million.

The Punjab government though enhanced the financial competency of an EDO to Rs 0.6 million from earlier Rs 0.15 million for his being the category-II officer. But even this ‘insufficient financial powers’ of the EDO cannot be notified.

Perhaps, to make the procurement process transparent, the district coordination officer (DCO) of each district was made chairman of the procurement committee with a number of other EDOs as its members.

According to senior health department officials, this system of check and countercheck further proved a roadblock in speedy completion of the procurement process which had already been facing problems in the face of distrust shown by the reputed national and multi-national pharmaceutical firms owing to the limited financial powers of the EDOs. It may be added here that only some little-known firms have participated in the tenders called by the EDOs.

But these little-known firms are also reluctant in delivering the supplies despite getting orders after the acceptance of their bids in second or third attempt.

When contacted, Multan EDO (health) Dr Fazal Mehmood Khan said the orders had been placed with successful firms and now their supply was awaited. “We are all ready to receive the consignments,” he added. He declined further comment on the situation.

Health department sources said the situation was more or less identical in other districts of the province.

This was due to the haste in which the district government system was introduced besides the lack of will among the provincial bureaucracy to transfer powers to the districts in letter and spirit to make the new system work, they added.