Faced with criticism over the shortage of tuberculosis drugs in the country, the Health Ministry is scrambling to procure paediatric TB medicines on an emergency footing.
There has been a problem with procurement over the last two years, a Ministry official familiar with the development told Business Line , adding that the Ministry had on Thursday finalised emergency procurement. The delivery will be made to the several States in less than a month, and it will continue for about six months, the official said, adding that Mumbai-based drug-maker Lupin would supply the drugs.
It was not a shortage of supplies from the drug company, but a problem with procurement procedures that aggravated the situation, the official clarified.
In fact, Lupin’s Shakti Chakraborty, Group President (India Region Formulations), also pointed out that there was no shortage in the production or supply of TB drugs. A large part of the company’s TB drug business comes from institutional and Government sales, a spokesperson added.
Despite the Government’s efforts, healthcare workers treating TB patients point out that the extent of shortages across the country is not quite clear. In medical projects run by international humanitarian organisation MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières), a shortage of medicines to treat drug-resistant TB was seen, said Leena Menghaney, India Manager of MSF’s access campaign.
Questions are also being asked about the Government’s third party procurement agency that is at the heart of the problem. If the procurement problem has persisted for two years, why did the Government not change its agency, a health-worker asked. The Ministry official did not, however, indicate whether the Government would change its agency after the latest fiasco.
Underlining the importance of not breaking the treatment cycle, a Mumbai-based healthcare worker pointed out that any disruption in taking TB medicines could lead to resistance developing in the patient against the drug. Drug-resistant TB is already a major concern in the treatment of patients, and the latest shortage has only added to the problem, healthcare workers observed.
jyothi.datta@thehindu.co.in