Medicine shortage at Punjab centres leaves patients in the lurch
AMRITSAR : A severe shortage of medicine in the Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) clinics of Punjab has left thousands of patients in a quandary.
Amritsar warehouse, which supplies the medicine to the government-run centres of seven districts, has been left with zero stock while private players are ruling the roost.
Similarly, two other warehouses in Bathinda and Kharar are also facing a severe shortage of supply. Some of the OOAT centres are facing the ire of the patients while many others are left with one or two days of supply. Sources said the health department had not procured the required stock on time, leading to the anxiety among drug addicts being treated at the OOAT clinics. “We have left with zero stock in the Amritsar warehouse. Some stock is available in the Kharar warehouse from where we had got 1 lakh medicine on Friday, which was distributed in Amritsar and Tarn Taran. Bathinda warehouse too has run out of stock. The medicine in Kharar will be finished in a day or two,” said Rashpal Singh, chief pharmacist of Amritsar warehouse.
The Amritsar warehouse had written to the state authorities around “a week ago” about the diminishing stock, but no medicine has been received so far. “We have already placed the order and it will be delivered in the coming days,” said Harsuchetun Kaur, state programme coordinator of the National Mental Health Programme.
A medical officer (MO), who is in-charge of an OOAT clinic, said, “Generally, the department is supposed to keep the medicine stock of six months at the state level, three months at the warehouse, one month at the district level and 15 days at the centres. However, many of the centres are getting only two or three days’ stock. And there is no shortage of medicine at the private centres.” Harsuchetun said she could not share the technical detail regarding the maintenance of the stock without the consent of her senior officers.
The MO said, “We have been directed that not more than two pills should be given to any patient. Some of the patients need a maximum of nine pills at a time. Such patients approach private centres or take drugs. Private centres are allowed to give 100 pills to a patient. Most of those who are approaching the government centres for the medicine are labourers.” On Saturday, hundreds of patients protested outside the Gharyala OOAT centre. Gharyala senior medical officer Dr Neetu said, “We have about 700 patients and somehow managed to get 1,000 pills today. We’ve been given assurance that more medicine will be given till Monday.”