About 5,000 blood cancer patients registered with Punjab’s free medicine programme have gone without regular supplies for more than three months, and the province’s health minister says hospitals can now buy the drugs locally while a bigger order is processed.
The programme treats chronic myeloid leukemia, or CML, with four medicines given free through five hospitals: Mayo and Jinnah in Lahore, Nishtar in Multan, Benazir Bhutto in Rawalpindi and Allied in Faisalabad. Patients usually collect them every month.
Supplies stopped because of delays in government procurement and bidding, according to reports. Patients have had to buy the drugs from private pharmacies, where they are also said to be in short supply. They include nilotinib, a targeted therapy that patients often take for years under specialist care. Doctors warn that long gaps in treatment can be dangerous.
Punjab Health Minister Khwaja Salman Rafique acknowledged the shortage. He said leading oncologists had advised expanding the list from four medicines to 27 about a year ago, and that this led to a central procurement process which is still under way. In the meantime, he said, the five hospitals have been authorised to buy medicines locally, and he hoped the shortage would be resolved soon.
If you or a family member is affected
Ask at your CML clinic now whether your medicine has arrived or can be bought under the local purchase arrangement. Do not stop or skip doses without speaking to your doctor, even for a short time, and tell them how many doses you have left. If you have to buy from a pharmacy, use a reputable one, keep the receipt and check the packaging and expiry date.
