Aurangabad: The woes of patients at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) don’t seem to end as they are still being forced to buy medicines from private stores.Following the release of funds for medicine procurement by the medical education and drugs department of the state it was expected that drugs would become available at the hospital. However, there has been no change at the ground level and shortage of medicines continues to affect the patients.GMCH dean Kanan Yelikar said the issue may end in couple of days in wake of the ongoing monsoon session of the state assembly, while secretary of medical education and drugs department Sanjay Deshmukh said the department would soon release an additional Rs 190 crore for drug procurement.In May, Deshmukh had stated that Rs 100 crore have been released for different institutes across the state for procuring drugs. Yelikar had also seconded the statement, but the drug shortage never ceased.Incidentally, the state government in its government resolution (GR) dated August 2017 made it obligatory for the public hospitals to procure all medicines and medical equipment from Haffkine Institute.The move was aimed at bringing transparency in drug procurement. But the move has deepened the drug crisis at the GMCH. In wake of the drug scarcity, the GMCH had made a temporary arrangement and used Rs 20 lakh from its local funds to buy emergency drugs. However, the arrangement could not work for long for the hospital that receives a daily OPD patient count of 2,000 in addition to its indoor patients.

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