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Medicine shortage at PMC facility puts patients in fix
The PMC-run clinic located at Gadikhana near Mandai houses central medicine storage, which is reeling with scant supplies
Patients looking to avail medicines from Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) facility are severely inconvenienced due to the civic body’s reduced budgetary provision.
PMC has been implementing a health scheme for urban poor citizens under which patients get free medicines from the civic body. However, curtailed finances have hampered the supplies for more than a fortnight.
The PMC-run clinic located at Gadikhana near Mandai houses central medicine storage, which is reeling with scant supplies.
Rohit Salvi, a local resident, said, “My mother is a kidney patient and undergoing dialysis process at PMC-run hospital. We need regular medicines, but we were deprived due to a shortfall of medicines at Gadikhana.”
PMC health department had written a letter to the municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar seeking ₹ 3 crore as urgent funds for purchasing additional stock.
PMC health officer Ashish Bharti and Additional health officer Sanjeev Waware recently drafted a letter in this regard to Kumar.
“The merger of 23 villages in PMC limits has inflated demand for medicines under the urban poor scheme. This year, there has been a budgetary provision of ₹6 crore for concessional medicines. To streamline the supplies till March next year, the PMC will require more medicines worth ₹3 crores,” the letter read.
The health department has mentioned in the letter that PMC required ₹9 crore medicines for the urban poor scheme in 2021-22.
When contacted, PMC health officer Waware said, “We have started the procuring process and it is expected that within the next two weeks, medicines will be available.”
The urban poor health scheme is getting executed for -PMC employees, elected members, and people from the lower-income group.
Civic activist Vivek Velenkar said, “PMC is neglecting the health sector despite the ill effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ironically, with each passing year, the budgetary provision for medicines under the urban poor scheme is dropping down. In the year 2020-21, there was a ₹13 crore provision which has come down to ₹ 6 crore this year. “
