KATHMANDU: Hospitals and health institutions in Salyan have been facing a shortage of free essential medicines for the past three months, forcing patients with chronic illnesses to purchase costly medicines from private pharmacies.
The shortage has affected medicines used to treat high blood pressure, diabetes, mental health conditions, and family planning, after the provincial government failed to supply the drugs on time.
Subash Hamal, chief of the health section at Kapurkot Rural Municipality, said all health facilities in the municipality have run out of medicines for hypertension, diabetes, mental health disorders, and family planning.
Similarly, Yagya Bahadur Basnet, chief of the health section at Darma Rural Municipality, said economically vulnerable patients have been deprived of regular medication because the free medicines are unavailable. He added that delays in medicine supplies have become a recurring problem every year.
Dr. Arjun Budhamagar, chief of the Health Service Office in Salyan, said the provincial government is responsible for supplying 98 types of medicines distributed free of charge through government hospitals. However, no supplies have been received so far this year, resulting in shortages of medicines for chronic diseases, including hypertension, diabetes, and mental health conditions.
He said patients visiting the district hospital are being asked to purchase the required medicines from private medical stores or the hospital pharmacy due to the lack of government-supplied stocks.
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