Procurement of anti-drug medicine at double rates comes under the scanner

We will have to spend double amount on the same medicine within a span of months. I have called a meeting with officials of the company which got the tender. BALBIR SINGH SIDHU, Punjab health minister

CHANDIGARH: The procurement of anti-drug medicine, Buprenorphine, by the health department has come under the scanner with questions being raised over the department allotting the tender for supply of tablets to a private company at almost double the price within a span of six months.

Notably, the company which was earlier supplying the medicine to the government at a rate of ₹3.8 per tablet has now procured the order for supplying the same medicine at ₹6.84 per tablet.

The move to allot the tender to M/S Verve Human Care Laboratories on fresh rates is likely to cost the Punjab government ₹36 crore.

When contacted, health and family welfare minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said he is seized of the matter and has called a meeting with officials of the company in the coming days.

“It’s a matter of concern that we will have to spend double the amount on the same medicine within a span of few months.

Before taking any decision over the issue, we want to know the manufacturer’s response,” he said. The department purchases around one crore tablets every month to be provided free of cost to drug addicts undergoing treatment at various government de-addiction centres and clinics.

“The Punjab Health System Corporation (PHSC), which procures the medicine, will now have to shell out almost the double amount on the medicine,” a senior official of the health department said.

As per the contract with the Punjab Health System Corporation, the company will supply medicine for two years.

The issue of supply of the de-addiction drugs had earlier turned controversial over the health department’s decision to cap the prices of the medicine at ₹ 7.5 per tablet.

Besides, there have been allegations that private de-addiction centres are being asked to make available only this particular medicine.

However, the health department has repeatedly rejected the allegations, claiming the same medicine is being used by the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

The department claimed that private de-addition centres are duping addicts by providing them medicines at much higher rates and this was a practice the government must check this practice.