SHEIKHUPURA-There is an acute shortage of medicines in public hospitals and health centres of Sheikhupura district which is causing inconvenience to the admitted and visiting patients.
This was stated by Patient Welfare Society (PWS) president Arif Virk during a press briefing on worst situation of local public hospitals here the other day.
He said that pain killers and the medicines for heart and abdominal diseases were not available in the hospitals and health centres. He said that patients were reluctant to purchase these medicines from the market, adding that the situation existed for the last several months.
He flayed the government for making tall but 'false' claims of providing free medicines at every public hospital of the province. "In actuality, every public hospital in the district, from rural health centres to DHQ Hospital, is faced with the shortage of medicines," he claimed.
A heart and diabetes patient namely Ishaq Ch said that he had been coming to the DHQ hospital to get medicines for several months but returned empty-handed every time.
Another citizen namely Uzma Batool told The Nation that her mother was admitted to the hospital due to nervous breakdown. She regretted that she had to purchase her mother's medicines from market due to shortage of drugs in the hospital.
The PWS president demanded the Punjab chief minister and the health department higher-ups to ensure the provision of sufficient quantity of medicines at all the public hospitals of the district so that the masses could get relief.
When contacting, the DHQ Hospital medical superintendent said that all out efforts were being made to overcome the shortage of medicines in all the public hospitals and health centres.