LAHORE: Following the persisting shortage of insulin in the private market, some state-run hospitals of the city have started refusing to provide the essential hormone/drug to the registered diabetes patients free of cost.

Since it usually costs around Rs1,000 per week, most of the poor patients are unable to afford insulin now a days due to its sale on higher rates in the black market.

An official says major teaching hospitals of the city, including the Jinnah, Mayo, Services, General and Sir Ganga Ram hospitals had registered poor patients under a programme to provide them with their monthly doses of insulin free of cost.

Officials blame it on contractor

Of these healthcare facilities, he says, only the LGH has managed to restore official supply of insulin to the patients, taking some emergent measures, while those registered with the Jinnah, Mayo and the Services Hospital Lahore are facing hardships in getting free insulin.

He says the delay in administering the prescribed doses of insulin daily could cause serious complications among the patients who are advised strictly by the doctors to get their shots on time to avoid health risks.

The registered number of patients with diabetes at the Out Patient Department (OPD) of the Jinnah Hospital Lahore is said to be more than 500, he adds.

The official says as the insulin has been in short supply for a month, Jinnah Hospital was providing it only to select patients, refusing the others. However, the situation worsened around a fortnight back when the hospital ran out of stock.

When asked about the reason for the suspension of supply, the officials says the company which had been awarded contract failed to ensure uninterrupted provision to the hospital that is now short of Insulin R, Insulin N and Humulin (70/30).

Quoting some medics, he says that Humulin R is human (hormone) insulin that is used to control high levels of glucose in blood of adults and children with diabetes mellitus, while Humulin N is a man-made form of the hormone used to treat the symptoms of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

He says some of the poor patients have been prescribed 40 units of the insulin twice a day and they were finding it hard to get the doses due to its unavailability.

Because of the shortage, he says the doctors at indoor departments of the Jinnah Hospital Lahore are forced to suggest the admitted patients to get insulin from the market.

Jinnah Hospital Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr Amjad Mahmood says the contract for supply of insulin had already been awarded to a company, and he would sort out the matter to ensure supply to the OPD patients.

A senior doctor at the LGH Diabetes Centre says the institute faced some issues in provision of insulin to the patients uninterruptedly a month back due to the delay in issuance of clearance certificate by the Drug Testing Lab. “However, the matter has been resolved and the patients began to get insulin”, claims Dr Salman Shakeel. He says that presently 3,000 diabetes patients are registered with the hospital.

The officials say the Mayo Hospital is partially providing insulin to the registered patients.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2022