Medicine money: Doctors panic over new budget cuts

SIALKOT: The Health Department has reduced its budget for medicines by up to 50 per cent in all government hospitals of the district.

According to medical officials, the department recently cut down on its medicine budget for hospitals by half due to lack of funds. Medical officials and patients have protested against the new budget cuts and termed them to be a great injustice against the people of the district.

“We already lack medical care facilities. With half of the budget pulled, it will mean that most patients will have to bear the entire cost themselves,” said Government Allama Iqbal Memorial DHQ hospital medical superintendent Adil Ghauri.

The recent budget cuts have resulted in the shortage of necessary medicines in all government hospitals, especially the emergency and operation theaters. “We have begun to reallocate our funding just so that we can afford syringes and surgical equipment. We are hoarding up on medicines,” said Sardar Begum Memorial GHQ hospital surgeon Ali Murad Qazi.

We had complained to the district government about the lack of funding for medicine and equipment only to find out that we now get half of what we were getting!” said Daska DHQ medical superintendent Dr Mubbashar Hayat

Doctors said that the situation had repeatedly been brought into the notice of higher officials of the Health Department but no steps had yet been taken to make up for the shortage of medicine supply. “It appears as if the district government wants half of our patients to go untreated. Most of them can’t afford the expensive medicines. If we were unable to help them before we certainly won’t be able to do so now,” said Dr Yasir, at the Allama Iqbal Memorial Hospital.

The protesting patients said that no they didn’t have access to TB medicines for the last two months and trash heaps could been seen in TB Ward of three government hospitals. “Instead of expanding the health care budget the government is slashing it. Things will only get worse,” said a patient, Salman.

Patients’ Welfare Society president, Zafar Malik, expressed grave concern over the situation and urged the provincial health secretary to reconsider his decision in the larger interest of the community. “The conditions of the hospitals are already quite miserable. The Daska hospital still doesn’t have a single gyanecologist on its rotation and other hospitals have been without ambulance services for the past six months. With budget cuts the situation is likely to get out of hand,” Malik said.

He added that he had always been snubbed by hospitals’ administrations when he had asked them to improve their facilities, “They always say they don’t have enough funds to repair ambulances, or power their generators. Now they won’t even have enough medicine,” he said.

The Health Department spokesperson, Abdullah Qayyum, said that his hands were tied and he was only relaying the decision of the provincial government. “I realise that budget cuts will affect the conditions of the government hospitals even more severely but this is not in my hands,” he said.

The Sialkot District Coordination Officer (DCO) Mujahid Sher Dil also expressed concern over the state of affairs. “The recent budget cuts will only worsen the situation. Already several hospitals are lacking qualified medical staff and machinery. Now they will also be out of medicine.” Dil said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2010.