District hospitals across India short of essential drugs, says study by AIIMS

Our Reporter
Dimapur, Dec. 10 (EMN): A study conducted by the department of Emergency Medicine, JPNATC, AIIMS, has found out that most of the district hospitals across the country are short of essential drugs to treat patients.

A total of 34 district hospitals were randomly selected from 28 states and two union territories of our country in the study which was financially supported by government of India’s think tank NITI Aayog. Peren District Hospital was among the health facilities assessed by team of assessors.

A report titled “Emergency and Injury Care at District Hospitals in India” revealed that none of the 34 district hospitals had resuscitation drugs package and other essential drugs were also not fully compliant.

It was also observed that none of the district hospitals had all essential medicines required for emergency. A total of 15 district hospitals were found to have less than 300 bed strength while 19 hospitals have more than 300 beds.

As for essential medicines for emergency assessment in Nagaland’s Peren District Hospital, the facility scored 32/60 for resuscitation drugs and 44/142 for other essential drugs.

The total score of the district hospitals was nil as none of the assessed health facilities had resuscitation drugs package, which the report said is a must in all hospitals.

The report stated that the checklist contained 101 essential medicines required in emergency department, and out of these 101 medicines, 30 medicines are categorised as resuscitation medicines. The percentage of all essential equipment, medicines and availability of essential medicines was calculated on three different scales: 50% or less (Score-0), 50% to 99% (Score-1), and 100% (Score-2).

For resuscitation medicines, the scoring was based on two scales: the score was zero if even one drug was missing from list (Score 0) and the score was two if all 30 medicines were present (Score-2), according to the report.

The study was conducted with an aim to assess the prevailing status of emergency and trauma care at government and private hospital settings of India to bring out the existing gaps and provide a framework for further improvement and the needed policy directions, it was informed.

It stated that complete package of resuscitation medicines as well as other essential medicines should also be present in all hospitals for 24×7. It went on to warn that license of the hospital can be cancelled if any essential drug is missing from the resuscitation package during third party audits.

70 medical colleges functional

Meanwhile, the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar, stated in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Friday that 70 out of 157 approved new medical colleges in Backward Areas of the country are functional.

Among the approved new medical colleges, Naga Hospital Authority Kohima (NHAK) has been included in phase 1, while the approved facility in Mon has been included in phase II.

“Health is a state subject and primary responsibility to ensure availability of public health facilities lies with the state government. However, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare administers a centrally-sponsored scheme for ‘Establishment of new Medical Colleges attached with existing district/referral hospitals’ with preference to underserved areas and aspirational districts, where there is no existing government or private medical college,” read the statement.

“This step will help to improve the healthcare delivery system in these areas. Under this scheme, government of India has approved establishment of 157 new medical colleges in three phases. Out of these, 70 medical colleges have become functional till date,” it added.