Cancer patients denied free drugs

Programme providing free medicines to CML patients hit by supply disruptions

RAWALPINDI:

A programme launched 12 years ago to provide free, life-saving medicines to blood cancer patients in Punjab has fallen into crisis, leaving thousands of people suffering from Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) without essential medication for the past five months.

Patients who had been receiving free medicines under the programme are now being advised to approach the Pakistan Baitul Mal for financial assistance to obtain Nilotinib (Nilosigna), a medicine used to treat CML.

The programme was launched in 2014 during Shehbaz Sharif's tenure as Punjab chief minister to provide free treatment and medicines to deserving patients suffering from the disease. Thousands of patients have benefited from the initiative over the years. However, delays in centralised procurement and disruptions in the supply of medicines have put the programme in jeopardy.

Under the initiative, the Punjab government had signed a memorandum of understanding with Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis Pharma Pakistan to ensure the provision of specialised medicines, including Tasigna (Nilotinib), for CML patients.

Medicines were distributed through designated centres at Mayo Hospital and Jinnah Hospital in Lahore, Nishtar Hospital in Multan, Holy Family Hospital in Rawalpindi, Allied Hospital in Faisalabad and a government hospital in Bahawalpur.

Last year, the Punjab government decided to centralise the procurement of medicines and initiated purchases from Oncongen following a tender process. However, supplies under the programme have remained disrupted for the past five months since the beginning of the current fiscal year.

The supply of the medicine to the designated hospitals was discontinued in June and has yet to be restored. With supplies from Mayo Hospital Lahore also halted, the other participating hospitals, including Holy Family Hospital, have been unable to provide the medicine to their patients.

As a result, patients have been advised to approach Pakistan Baitul Mal to obtain financial assistance for purchasing the medicine.