Acute drug crisis in health facilities across the country

KATHMANDU, Oct 12: Health facilities across the country have been facing scarcity of life-saving drugs, thanks to the economic blockade slapped by Indian authority on Nepal for the last 20 days.

Due to the ongoing fuel crisis caused by the blockade, drug suppliers have been unable to deliver drugs to pharmacies throughout the country, admitted officials at the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP)."Hospitals even lacked normal drugs. Suppliers have not been able to deliver drugs to the pharmacies because of fuel shortage," Mahendra Bahadur Shrestha, chief of the management division at the MoHP said. He also informed that some hospitals have informed the MOHP that they lacked life-saving drugs. "Cancer hospitals have complained that they lacked drugs for chemotherapy," informed Shrestha.

According to Shrestha, health facilities in several districts of the Tarai region lack essential drugs including regular vaccines of children, anti-snake venom, anti-Rabies vaccine and others. The HIV patients of the Tarai districts face risk of missing antiretroviral medicines due to the obstruction created by the agitating Madhesh-based parties.

Shrestha informed that the MoHP neither has budget nor authority to purchase medicines directly from the international market. "High-level decision and additional budget are needed to procure medicines from international market. The new cabinet can only take decision in this regard," added Shrestha.

Meanwhile, the Department of Drug Administration (DDA) said that it will request the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) for security to the drug suppliers. "We will assist drug suppliers with fuel and security," Baburam Khakurel, Director General (DG) at the DDA, said.

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