Kakinada: Private hospitals face acute shortage of Remdesivir

Kakinada: There is an acute shortage of Remdesivir injections in the district because of inadequate supply to the State Drug Control department from the central drug stores. The State Drug Control department is supplying the injections to the private hospitals, giving treatment to Covid patients.

The district administration has set up a call center and said that if any patient requires the injection, as soon as the private hospital concerned makes an indent to the call center, the injection will be supplied to the hospital within five or ten minutes.

But such immediate supply is not being done in real circumstances. The relatives or the family members of the patients are finding it difficult to get the injection. Sometimes they are purchasing the injection in the black market.

Recently, the family member of a Covid patient purchased two Remdesivir injections at a cost of Rs 70,000. But the patient died.

According to sources, adequate number of the injections is unavailable in private hospitals also. However, the private hospitals are issuing bulk orders, but they are getting not more than 180 injections at a time. Every day, Covid cases are rising and many people are seeking the help of private hospitals for their treatment. The private hospitals are expecting a good supply of injections in the coming days.

Drug Control Inspector B Srinivasa Rao told 'The Hans India' that they are not able to supply enough quantities of Remdesivir injections to the private hospitals due lack of supply. He said that they are receiving orders for more than 3,000 injections from private hospitals every day. But the central drug store is supplying 1,059 injections against the orders of 3,000.

At present, only 5 injections are available in Kakinada. He said that they have already placed an order and expecting supply of 1,059 injections in a day or two. As some of the injections are sold in the black market, the accused were caught red-handed and handed over to the police.

The official said that an FIR was registered in the II-Town police station against the accused for selling injections in the black market. The official said that flying squads are monitoring on stocks of the injections in the private hospitals. They are also taking information regarding the issue of injections in the private hospitals. He said that stringent action would be taken against those who indulge in malpractice in the matter of the issue of the injections in the private hospitals. Medicine is supplied in private hospitals in order to ensure that Covid patients may not be put to inconvenience and difficulty. He said that only after payment of the DD, the injections will be distributed to the private hospitals. He said that the process of distribution of injections is crystal clear and transparent.

District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) Dr KVS Gowereswar Rao told 'The Hans India' that the stock of injections is adequate. The injections will be administered only to the needy people as per the guidelines of the government. Initially there were some troubles with regard to the availability of injections but now they are sufficiently available in government hospitals. He said that regularly the district officials including the Collector are monitoring and interacting with the medical department.