Sindh Health Department failed to purchase life-saving medicines through its centerlised procurement committee for health facilities of the province. Hospitals and health facilities all over Sindh are facing a shortage of medicines. The shortage has been made worse by a delay in the supply of life saving drugs. Reportedly, this delay has occurred due to a delay in tender process. Resultantly, all the major hospitals of Karachi, including Civil Hospital Karachi, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, National Institute of Child Health, Sindh Government Hospital Liaquatabad, Korangi, New Karachi, Saudabad, Ibrahim Haidery, and Lyari General Hospital have been facing a shortage of medicines. The hospitals of Hyderabad, Larkana, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas, Shaheed Benazirabad and other cities are also facing shortage of life-saving medicines. The medicines for patients suffering from chronic diseases, including infectious, are also not available in government hospitals. The surgical equipment stock has also finished in all the health facilities and patients have been compelled to buy drugs or other surgical instruments from markets. Shortage of medicines in hospitals of Sindh had been a problem since the beginning of the current fiscal year. According to CHK Medical Superintendent Dr Muhammad Tofique, the health facility was almost out of drugs and the hospital administration was providing medicines to the admitted patients through local purchase. “Arrangements for life-saving drugs for 7000 OPD, 1500 emergency and 2000 admitted patients on daily basis is a tough task but the administration is striving hard to provide medicines to all these patients,” he added. Published in Daily Times, August 20th 2018.