5,000 Punjab CML patients face 3-month medicine gap
Around 5,000 people on Punjab’s Chronic Myeloid Leukemia programme have gone without monthly free drugs as procurement delays continue; hospitals may now buy locally.
About 5,000 blood cancer patients on Punjab’s CML free-medicine programme have gone without monthly supplies for more than three months.
Delays in the provincial government’s procurement and bidding process are blamed for the disruption at five designated hospitals.
Patients have been buying costly drugs from private pharmacies, where stocks are also short; experts warn of serious health risks from gaps in treatment.
Health Minister Khwaja Salman Rafique said supplies are being restored and hospitals may use local purchase while centralised buying continues.