Beni Hospital: Constant shortage of free medicine

Out of all the 98 types of drugs that the government has said to be provided at Beni Hospital, at most 40-50 types of drugs are available. Out of the available free medicines, only 20-25 percent of the demand in the hospital is supplied," said Khem Kumari Pant, a nursing officer and information officer who is the head of the medicine store at Beni Hospital, "that too is irregular supply. Apart from 5-10, there is not a single drug that is regularly available.'

Pant added, "Not only the medicines that the government sends for free, but also the medicines that the hospital buys as per the requirement, the suppliers do not provide them. From time to time, there is a drug problem in the hospital." How many tendered medicines are never sent by the suppliers, the hospital has to take special care.'

Because Beni Hospital does not provide free medicine, patients with non-communicable diseases such as mental illness, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and other non-communicable diseases who need to take regular medicine are more affected. Not only the medicines taken by the chronic patients, but also the adrenaline injections, common dextrose, RL, NS, etc., which are given in emergency treatment to the heart attack patients, are not available in the hospital. Folic acid, which is mandatory for pregnant women, is also lacking in the hospital.

'Except for 5-10 basic medicines including Cetamol and Jeevan water, the rest of the medicine in Beni Hospital has been out of stock at one point or another. Even if it is free, many medicines do not come, even if they come, 20-25 percent of the demand comes," said Anju Sharma, head of the pharmacy and social services unit of the hospital. Medicines also come at the time of stock out. Some are of poor quality.'

The Gandaki Province Drug Management Department is responsible for delivering free medicines to the basic health institutions at the local level, including the district hospital. But the department has not been able to send all the drugs prescribed by the protocol.

According to the pharmacy staff of Beni Hospital, among the various medicines given to diabetic patients, Beni Hospital does not have any other medicine except 500 mg metformin. Metformin also came with a gap of 6 months. Likewise, all the doses of atrovastin that patients with high blood pressure and clostoral should take regularly have not arrived at the hospital for the last 9 months.