Karnataka: Info on drug procurement for govt health facilities to go online

Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Medical Services Corporation Limited (KSMCL) is set to publish all information about drug procurement online. The corporation is planning on ensuring quality of medicines and their availability at government hospitals and other public health centres. 

The decision comes after KSMCL officials met representatives of Sarvatrika Arogya Andolana-Karnataka (SAA-K), a people’s campaign for universal health systems and those of the Drug Action Forum in Karnataka. 

A letter was addressed to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao and Kanagavalli M, managing director of KSMCL, urging them to publish all information about drug procurement online and to ensure consistent supply of medicines and stock maintenance of regularly needed medicines. 

"We have called for tenders to supply drugs. We will ensure that there is transparency in the process and that consistency is maintained. We have e-aushadha and e-upakarana for health centres to place orders for drugs," Rao told DH. 

Representatives of SAA-K said poor people were being refused medicines as there was no stock in the department. 

Dr Akshay, a representative of SAA-K, told DH: "The software can be put to better use here to calculate stocks and to ensure that there is more transparency in the system."

If a doctor prescribes medicines for months, the drugs have to be available every month. If it is available one month and not the following month, people are forced to buy them from private pharmacies, he said.