Ensure supply of free medicines to patients in govt hospitals: FGG to CM

Hyderabad: The Forum for Good Governance (FGG) on Monday requested the Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to order for removal of all private medical shops within the premises of government hospitals and medicines should be supplied in hospital pharmacies free of cost, as was being implemented in the Central Government Health Scheme.

FGG president M Padmanabha Reddy, in a press release issued here said that the Article 47 of the Constitution of India stipulates that it was the duty of the government to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and improve public health. Telangana Government, to provide free medical aid, has established a number of hospitals at state, district and mandal headquarters.

These hospitals are supposed to provide quality service including free medicines. Recently the Government of Telangana has taken a decision to provide free health insurance up to Rs 10 lakhs (Rajeev Aarogyasri). “Against all these professed values, the poor persons entering into government hospitals like Gandhi or Osmania may get free consultation by doctor, but once the doctor prescribes medicines they have to be purchased from private medical shops established well within the hospital.

There is a government pharmacy in the hospital but required medicines were not available. This was indirectly helping the private shops to boost their business. Added to this, there were medical shops alongside supplying generic medicines but they were closed most of the time. People from weaker sections are forced to purchase medicines at high cost in private medical shops located there. In contrast, in the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS), the prescribed medicines were given free of cost, in case some were not readily available in pharmacy they are indented and provided to patients free of cost,” he said.

In government hospitals in the state the consultation was free but the cost of medicines is very high. There is no mechanism to check the availability of medicines in hospital pharmacy. The poor patients are made to purchase the medicines at high cost, Padmanabha Reddy said.