LAHORE, Oct 3: Visitors to various public and private hospitals faced agonising moments on Wednesday as they could not get the essential medicines amid strike by the chemists. Thanks to the differences among the chemists over the issue, the strike remained partial in other parts of Lahore and elsewhere in Punjab.

While one association was insistent on continuing complete strike till the withdrawal of the new rules implemented in July last, the other wanted to employ “some other tactics” to press the government for heeding their demand.

The medical stores outside the Sir Ganga Ram, Mayo, Services, Lahore General and Shalamar hospitals and at other parts like Yateem Khana, Islampura, Mughalpura, Sabzazaar, Township and Shahdara remained closed.

“I visited the Ganga Ram Hospital to get treatment for diarrhoea. A doctor on duty asked me to get IV fluids from the market. To the dismay of my brother, all the medical stores outside the hospital were closed. However, after covering some distance, we got the medicine from an outlet of a pharmacy chain, opposite to the Fatima Jinnah Medical College”, Adil Zarar of Mozang told Dawn.

Like Zarar, a number of patients visiting outdoor and those who were admitted to hospitals had to bear the brunt of the strike.

Dr Masood Akhtar of SGRH told this reporter that the emergency of a public-sector hospital was not affected much by such strike because all the required medicines were available with it. However, the outdoor and indoor patients did face difficulties in getting medicines, he said, apprehending that the emergencies might face problems if the strike continued.

Many outlets of pharmaceutical chains, which are not part of the two chemists’ associations, remained open. The Lohari gate market, too, functioned as usual.

The Pakistan Chemists Retailers Association and the Lahore Chemists Association are of the view that the new rules have primarily been introduced to protect the interest of multinationals which are running a chain of pharmaceutical outlets in the province.

PCRA president Ishaq Mayo said the association had been trying to take the other associations on board in its plan to observe compete strike at least for a month. He said the parleys with the health authorities remained inconclusive.

He held the chief drug inspector and some other top officers of the health department responsible for the deadlock. He urged the chief minister to look into the matter and redress the grievances of the people engaged in 50,000 medical stores in Punjab.

LCA president Nasir Chaudhry is against the move adopted by the PCRA. He said it would be very difficult for the chemists to observe the strike for such a long period. He insisted that they (chemists) should opt for some other tactics to make the government realise that their demand for restoration of the 1988 drug rules was just.

Punjab Health Minister Chaudhry Iqbal had earlier claimed that the chemists had minor grievances that would soon be redressed.