The Regional Medical Store of Province-7 is reeling under a shortage of essential medicines that the government distributes free of cost. 

Laxmi Kumar Shrestha, chief of the medical store, said the centre had not supplied the medicines despite their repeated requests.

“Summer is approaching and we are not prepared to deal with a slew of communicable diseases that come with the season,” he said. 

Health facilities in many districts have been demanding for diarrhoea medicine these days. The store has run out of zinc tablets, oral rehydration salts and Metronidazole, among other essential medicines. The government provides 70 types of medicines free of cost through district hospitals, 56 through primary health centres and 35 through heath posts. 

“Currently, the store does not even have 35 essential medicines. We don’t know when the medicines are going to be delivered,” said Shrestha. Krishna Bahadur Bohara, chief at Emergency Unit of the Seti Zonal Hospital, said the hospital has not received the essential medicines in a single delivery because of the ongoing shortage.

“We have been receiving medicines in batches. So there are always some medicines that are unavailable at the hospital throughout the year,” he said.