Medicine shortage hits TB elimination programme in Pune

According to state officials, procurement of drugs could get delayed for a period of three months. While PMC is left with a stock of TB medicines for only one month.

Dr Prashant Bothe, city TB officer, PMC, said, expecting a shortage of medicines the drug for resistant TB were procured and no stock of 3 fixed-dose combination (FDC) and 4 fixed-dose combination (FDC) drugs was procured.

“The drugs were procured in February and now the state has issued a letter on March 18 stating to make arrangements for TB drug at the local level as the supply of drugs could get delayed for three months,” he said.

The PMC has 4,553 TB patients registered under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) and the medicines have to be provided for six months. However, procurement of TB drugs in large quantities is not impossible due to the code of conduct.

A senior officer from the state health department on anonymity, said that the Central TB Division (CTD) in its letter to the state TB officers, stated procurement of drugs could get delayed due to “unforeseen and extraneous circumstances” for a period of three months.

“We have asked the local bodies who don’t have stock of medicines to ask patients to buy medicines from outside and provide reimbursement. The state is under process to procure necessary anti-TB drugs and floated tenders,” said, the official.

Dr Bothe, said, there is a shortage across the state and patients TB patients from other parts of the district are now visiting TB units in Pune city in search of drugs.

“We provide them drugs for a couple of weeks and ask them to visit the nearest TB unit. This will exhaust our stock of medicines in less than one month. The budget allocated for TB Programme is exhausted and local purchase of medicines cannot be done for more than ₹2 lakh,” he said.