CHITRAL, Nov 28: The hospitals in the district are feared to run short of life-saving drugs after the closure of Lowari Top as the provincial health department has released the budget of the district only up to September of the current financial year.

Since the drugs are purchased from Peshawar, the transportation to Chitral will not be possible after the closure of Lowari which is likely in mid-December to reopen in May next year.

Executive district officer health, Dr Fazal Qayyum, told Dawn that according to the routine, the finance department releases the budget in instalments and this time it has released only for one month.

He said usually the department used to release budget enough to meet the requirements during the closure period of Lowari. The hospitals, including the DHQ hospital, are already short of basic medicines and chemicals required for diagnose purpose.

Last year the patients had faced tremendous hardship when the DHQ hospital ran short of X-ray films. There are 23 Basic Health Units (BHUs) and Rural Health Centre (RHCs) in the remote areas of the district and 14 out of them have no doctors.

The only mode of treatment for the poor population is the provision of life-saving drugs prescribed and provided by the para-medical staff posted there. The shortage of medicines will severely affect the masses.

“We cannot purchase drugs from the local market as it is in contravention of purchase rules,” the EDO health said.