MUZAFFARABAD, Dec 14: Dozens of paediatric patients suffering from respiratory diseases have been worst hit as a medicine used for their treatment has gone missing from the markets for the last couple of days, Dawn has learnt.

Sources in the two hospitals in the AJK capital told on Friday that Ventoline solution, used for nebulization in cases of pneumonia with wheeze (respiratory airway disease), bronchitis and bronchial asthma in children, was not available in the markets for more than three weeks due to which some deaths had also occurred.

A senior child specialist in the Combined Military Hospital Muzaffarabad told this correspondent that the solution, manufactured by a multinational company, was also not available even in major towns of the adjoining Hazara Division in the NWFP.

The multinational company, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), which manufactured the solution maintained that the raw material for the drug was out of stock which had rendered it unable to meet the demand, said the doctor.

Ironically, no other company manufactures the drug, as a result, children, particularly infants, with respiratory problems, were worst sufferers, he said.

In CMH alone, on average, around 50 children are brought daily with respiratory diseases, whereas, the number of indoor patients ranges between 15 to 20 who have to be nebulized after every 3-4 hours.

The solution, according to the doctor, is used for nebulization, that is giving steam to provide immediate relief to the patients.

“In the absence of the essential drug, children are not recovering,” said the doctor, adding that any other treatment could prove dangerous.

A major drug store owner said that in spite of being a multinational company, the GSK was least bothered about the shortage of the medicine.”