Flood of smuggled medicines raises concerns over quality

KATHMANDU, Oct 4 : Health centers across the Tarai region have been facing acute scarcity of essential drugs as a result of the Tarai banda, which has been continuing for over the last 50 days. Most patients in the region have been compelled to return from government health facilities without any medication and to rely on drugs smuggled from the Indian State of Bihar.

The DPHO, Rautahat said the office has run out of of essential drugs and that it has not been able to supply medicines to the local health centers. “We do not have essential drugs at our store. Essential drugs have to be supplied from Hetauda, but we have not been able to bring them due to the prolonged banda,” Harendra Gupta, a focal person at the DPHO, Rautahat, said.

“We lack all essential drugs such as oral-rehydration solution (ORS), antibiotic, iron pills, among others,” Amrendra Sah, in-charge of Auraiha Health Post in Rautahat, said. He said that every day over 60 patients turn up at the health center, all of whom are then referred to private health centers.
The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has committed to provide 70 types of essential medicines free of cost through government health facilities across the country.
According to Sah, the District Public Health Office (DPHO) in Rautahat has not been able to provide essential drugs to patients since the start of Tarai banda.
Private health centers and pharmacies have been buying smuggled drugs from Bihar. “No one knows about the quality of those smuggled drugs and the concerned authorities have shown no interest in regulating the flow of such drugs into the Nepali market,” added Sah.
What is even more worrying is that the health centers in Rautahat district have run out of life saving drugs such as oxytocin, which is vital to prevent bleeding during child delivery.
“Oxytocin and other essential drugs and vaccines are no longer available,” informed Surendra Sah, in-charge of Pataura Primary Health Care Center.
He lamented at the apathy shown by the concerned health authorities as well as the agitating parties toward the sufferings of the patients.
He said that a lot of patients suffering from typhoid, fever and diarrhea have been visiting the health centers for medication. “But we are compelled to turn them away without treatment,” added sah.
The Epidemiology and Disease Control Division (EDCD) of the Department of Health Services (DoHS) said that most health centers in the eastern Tarai lacked essential drugs.
“We have not been able to send essential drugs to the health centers of the eastern Tarai,” Dr Baburam Marasini, director at the EDCD, said. “The disruption in supply is caused by the prolonged banda in the region. There have been instances where the protesters have blocked even ambulances.”