Explain bias in Covid drug distribution: Himachal HC to Centre

SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh high court has asked the central and state governments to explain the discrimination in the allocation of Covid-19 medicines to the hill state.

The court directed the Union health secretary to furnish details about the distribution of Remdesivir, Favipiravir and Tocilizumab and apprise it of reasons why states with a less population and fewer Covid patients were getting more allocation of medicines than Himachal Pradesh.

The court directed the state to provide details of the distribution of oxygen for the past two weeks besides its plan to augment the supply. It asked the state to ensure the uploading of real time data on bed availability in each hospital for Covid-19 patients on its web portals besides those of hospitals and also physically display the data outside each hospital daily.

Writ petition highlighted lack of oxygen facilities

The division bench, comprising justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan and justice Chander Bhusan, passed these orders on a writ petition highlighting the issue of the lack of oxygen facilities at Dr YS Parmar Government Medical College, Nahan, and the nonfunctioning of 25 ventilators that have been given to the college under the HIM Care Scheme.

The court directed the state government to publish the names and locations of the testing centres, hospitals, dedicated Covid health care centres in the media bulletin daily. The bulletin should clearly indicate the availability of total beds, vacant ones, beds with ventilators, oxygen cylinders and beds without any oxygen tank/cylinder in each hospital, dedicated centres.

The court clarified that if private hospitals refuse to cooperate, or are reluctant to provide Covid test and facilities, the state government shall resort to coercive steps as provided under the Disaster Management Act and Essential Services Maintenance Act. It directed that the state should also consider buying additional CT scan machines.

The court directed the state to furnish information regarding bed capacity in government and private hospitals.