Valley
Central Medical Store unable to supply drugs
The Central Medical Store in Pathlaiya, Bara, has been unable to supply medicines, including life saving drugs, to several districts across the country due to the fuel shortage caused by Indian blockade.The Central Medical Store in Pathlaiya, Bara, has been unable to supply medicines, including life saving drugs, to several districts across the country due to the fuel shortage caused by Indian blockade.
Chief of the store Arun Kumar Jha said though there are enough stock of medicines, the contractors responsible for transportation have informed that they cannot ferry the medicines due to the fuel shortage.
“Around 40 districts have been demanding medicines for the last three months,” he said, adding that they are able to make the supply in only 17 districts.
The store also used to supply medicines in the eastern districts by escorting vehicles in the past. It has stopped now as the protest in the Tarai has intensified.
“Public health officials from various districts are requesting for medicines on a daily basis. However, we are unable to fulfil their requests,” said Jha.
He said even the town of Birgunj, which is only 25 km from Pathlaiya, is reeling under the shortage.
Pharma companies halt production
PARSA: Fourteen pharmaceutical companies from Birgunj in Parsa to Hetauda in Makwanpur have stopped their production due to the lack of raw materials. Prakash Khandelwal, vice-chairman of the Association of Pharmaceutical Producers, said the production has came to a halt because the raw materials could not be imported due to the border blockade. According to him, a majority of pharmaceutical companies in Nepal import 90 percent of their raw materials, and they enter from Raxaul-Birgunj border point.
Shortage affects far-western region
KANCHANPUR: The far-western districts have been reeling under shortage of medicines for the past three months. Aditya Bhandari, who runs a pharmacy in Kanchanpur, said the border blockade has led to the shortage of drugs, particularly those prescribed for the patients of high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart
ailments. Chief of Baitadi District Hospital Dr Gunaraj Awasthi said the District Public Health Office has been unable to supply essential drugs in the rural parts of the district for the past three months.
Meanwhile, the Far Western Regional Medical Store in Dhangadi has run out of its stock of emergency medicines.
Storekeeper Laxmi Kumar Shrestha said they cannot ferry medicines from the Central Regional Medical Store and the Capital due to the shortage of fuel.
Kavre running out of essential medicines
KAVRE: Essential medicines, including paracetamol, cough syrup and iron pills, are hard to find in Kavre district these days. Narayan KC at the District Health Office said people who are in need of essential medicines are facing difficulties because of the shortage. Mahesh Kayastha, a local pharmacist, said paracetamol and cough syrup are widely used medicines, but they are hard to find in Kavre these days. He added that many life saving drugs are also either in short supply or unavailable.
79 fuel tankers arrive from south
KATHMANDU: As many as 79 fuel tankers have entered Nepal from various Indian customs points over the past 24 hours.
Forty-one fuel-carrying trucks, including 26 LPG bullets arrived in Bhairahawa from Sunauli border point until late Monday night, customs officials said on Tuesday.
Likewise, 19 fuel tankers—11 carrying diesel, six petrol and two LPG bullets—entered Nepal from the Nepalgunj-Rupaidiha border point, according to the customs office in Nepalgunj.
Similarly, 12 fuel tankers entered Nepal from the Kakadbhitta-Pani Tanki customs point, while seven tankers crossed into Kailali from the Trinagar-Gauriphanta border point.
Meanwhile, no fuel tankers entered Nepal from the Biratnagar-Jogbani customs point although around 50 cargo trucks drove into Nepal through the point. The border point was closed after noon on Tuesday due to the Chhath festival.
(With inputs from our local correspondents)