Hepatitis C-AIDS drug meant for 1,800 patients expires

at Punjab govt storage facility

Asif ChaudhryUpdated July 15, 2019
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Health secy claims manufacturer bound to replace stock. — AFP/File

LAHORE: In what appears to be a case of sheer negligence on the part of the health authorities
concerned, expensive hepatitis C medicine meant for 1,800 patients suffering from co-infection --
HIV/AIDs and Hepatitis C - allegedly expired at the government’s Medical Store Depot (MSD).

Moreover, the status of the same medicine meant for 3,200 patients that was supplied to the treatment
centres all over the province during the last two years was “not known”.

The ‘scam’ was officially detected and reported by a team of experts during inspection of the government
MSD located on the Gurumangat Road, Gulberg.

The medicine was purchased for the treatment of those HIV/AIDS patients who were also suffering from
chronic hepatitis C disease, says an official report available with Dawn.

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The central warehouse - MSD – was established to store bulk purchases of medicines/equipment meant for
the health department at provincial level for the projects, including IRMNCH, Expanded Programme for
Immunisation (EPI), besides communicable disease control and the TB control programmes.

Health secy claims manufacturer bound to replace stock

According to the report, the hepatitis/HIV-AIDS medicine was purchased by the primary & secondary
healthcare department under the Punjab Aids Control Programme (PACP) in April 2017 for 5,000 patients
at a cost of Rs126 million.

The PACP was headed by additional secretary (technical) Dr Asim Altaf of the primary & secondary
healthcare department.

As per sources, the medicines expired in April this year, but the programme head allegedly concealed the
fact from the higher authorities to avoid punishment.
The government had recently removed Dr Asim from the programme following reports of sharp increase in
the number of HIV-AIDs cases in Punjab, an official said.

Recently, they said, the experts carried out inspection of the MSD warehouse and detected the scam.

The experts in their report brought it into the notice of the higher authorities, recommending strict
departmental action against those responsible for “the loss to the national exchequer.”

According to the report, the 30,000 packs of the medicine Sofiget (tablets) which were to be dispensed
among 1,820 patients, were found expired.

It said the PACP received 30,000 combo packs (Sofiget+Ribazole) worth Rs126 million from Hepatitis C
Control Programme on July 12, 2017 with expiry date of April 2019.

“It was stored in MSD, Gulberg, for the use of 5,000 patients of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C co-infection”,
states the report.

It further stated that the PACP got issued 28,180 combo packs of hepatitis C treatment worth Rs118m from
the MSD.

“These packs were distributed to the treatment centres in Punjab and their fate is not known”, the report
mentions.

It pointed out that the remaining 1,820 combo packs were not collected by the PACP from the MSD and
expired.

The experts recommended in the report that notice should be taken of the matter and a probe be conducted
as it involved “heavy loss to the national exchequer”.

The report also mentioned that 9,475 devices purchased under the Non-Communicable Disease
Programme also expired in Feb this year, exposing the apathy of the health authorities towards the patients
as well as the national exchequer.

Health Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman, in his reply to the Dawn query about the issue said the hepatitis C
medicine was procured by the Hepatitis and Infection Control Programme in FY 2016-17 from M/s Getz
Pakistan Pvt Limited.

He said the stock was delivered at Government Sub Medical Store Depot, Thokar Niaz Baig, Lahore. From
this stock, he said, 30,000 packs (5,000 patients courses) were issued to the PACP on July 11, 2017. The
PACP dispatched approximately 5,000 packs to the patients from the Sub MSD, Thokar Niaz Baig.

Meanwhile, he said, the storage contract of the Thokar Sub MSD lapsed and the entire stock, including
hepatitis C medicine, was moved to the Gulberg MSD in March/April 2018. The operational control of this
store was with the M/s TCS Logistics Pvt limited.

From here, he said, the PACP issued the medicine to their facilities from August to December 2018. After
all dispatches by the PACP, a total of 1,820 packs were left in the store and reached expiry in April, 2019.

M/s TCS Logistics Pvt Limited verbally informed the concerned programmes about the approaching
expiry date of the remaining stock (1,820 packs).

Mr Zaman said that as per the PACP authorities, the manufacturing company was under an obligation to
replace any expired stock with the fresh one.

He said on the directions of the concerned programme, two representatives of M/s Getz Pakistan Pvt
Limited (the manufacturing firm) had visited the Gulberg MSD on April 16 and physically inspected the
stocks.
He added that the firm had committed to replace the stock, as communicated by the officers of the
concerned programme.

Medicine for around 11800 patients suffering from co-infection, aids and hepatitis,
expired at government’s Medical Store Depot (MSD), due to negligence of the
authorities.

Similarly, the status is still unknown of the same medicine which was supplied
over treatment centres for around 3200 patients.

The scam was reported during an inspection of the government MSD situated on
the Gurumangat Road, Gulberg. These medicine were bought for the treatment of
those HIV/AIDS patients who also had chronic hepatitis C disease. The medicines
had allegedly expired in April this year, but this was not reported to the higher
authorities to avoid punishment for neglect.

Experts submitted a report demanding action against those responsible. The report
further claimed that around 30,000 packs of Sofiget (tablets) which were to be
given for treatment to 1,820 patients, were found expired.

It said the PACP received 30,000 combo packs (Sofiget+Ribazole) worth Rs126
million from Hepatitis C Control Programme on July 12, 2017 with expiry date of
April 2019.

The report stated “It was stored in MSD, Gulberg, for the use of 5,000 patients of
HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C co-infection”,  and that “These packs were distributed
to the treatment centres in Punjab and their fate is not known”.

Health Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman told that medicine was received by the
Hepatitis and Infection Control Programme in FY 2016-17 from M/s Getz Pakistan
Pvt Limited.

Zaman further claimed that the stock was delivered at Government Sub Medical
Store Depot, Thokar Niaz Baig, in Lahore and from this stock, he said, 30,000
packs were sent to the PACP on July 11, 2017. The PACP delivered approximately
5,000 packs to the patients from the Sub MSD. After the storage contract of
Thokar Sub MSD lapsed, the stock was then moved to Gulberg MSD in around
March 2018. From here the PACP dispatched the medicine to their facilities from
August to December 2018. After all dispatches by the PACP, a total of 1,820 packs
were left in the store which ultimately reached expiry in April, 2019.

Furthermore he said that the M/s Getz Pakistan Pvt Limited (the manufacturing
company)  on April 16 visited Gulberg MSD and physically inspected the stocks
themselves. M/s TCS Logistics Pvt Limited had informed programmes of the
expiry and that the manufacturing company was under obligation to replace the
expired stock with fresh ones.
Moreover, the firm had promised to replace the stock as requested by the officers.

Our health sector is ill from mainly mismanagement, utter lack of apathy and the absence of
accountability. Most of the time, health department managers wail the lack of funds. They
may be right that the lack of funds hurts the delivery mechanism but in many instances, it
appears that the lack of management and poor usage of resources are at the heart of the bane
of the sector. One such case appeared in Punjab where costly medicines, mainly meant for
1,800 patients suffering from co-infection – HIV/AIDs and Hepatitis C – expired at the
government’s Medical Store Depot (MSD). Also, another consignment of the same medicine
meant for 3,200 patients, supplied to treatment centres all over the province during the last
two years, has unidentified status. The sorry state of affair comes to the surface at a time
when the prices of medicines have gone up, and public hospitals reportedly lack life-saving
drugs.

As per the official report, the medicine (now expired) was bought for the treatment of those
HIV/AIDS patients who were also suffering from chronic hepatitis C disease and were
registered under the AIDS Control Programme. The bulk of the medicine was bought by the
Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department under the Punjab Aids Control
Programme in April 2017 for 5,000 patients at a cost of Rs 126 million. Since 2017, the
medicine has remained in packs till they expired the last month. A vigilant inspection
mechanism of the warehouse would have avoided the loss. The bulk of medicine Sofiget
(tablets) packed in 30,000 packages is hard to be avoided if inspections of the MDS are
carried out regularly.

The scam is just the tip of the iceberg. The warehouse is likely to have buried many stories of
costly medicines and devices that expired before they could reach the patients. It is also
reported that the same warehouse housed 9,475 devices meant for the Non-Communicable
Disease Programme till they expired in February this year.

A comprehensive probe should lead to the people responsible for loss of public funds.
Moreover, it should result in the establishment of a mechanism for the follow-up of the
procured items and their usage. It seems the health authorities keep on buying bulk after bulk
without a proper system of their usage. For such reasons, every other day, we hear about
scuffles between patients’ attendants and hospital staffers. The public health sector is losing
its credibility fast. It is high time that effective measures be taken to restore people’s
confidence in public hospitals. *

Hepatitis C-AIDS Drug Meant For 1,800 Patients

Expires At Punjab Govt Storage Facility

PAKISTAN

On Jul 15, 2019

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LAHORE: In what appears to be a case of sheer negligence on the part of the health
authorities concerned, expensive hepatitis C medicine meant for 1,800 patients suffering
from co-infection -- HIV/AIDs and Hepatitis C - allegedly expired at the government’s
Medical Store Depot (MSD).

Moreover, the status of the same medicine meant for 3,200 patients that was supplied
to the treatment centres all over the province during the last two years was “not known”.

The ‘scam’ was officially detected and reported by a team of experts during inspection
of the government MSD located on the Gurumangat Road, Gulberg.

The medicine was purchased for the treatment of those HIV/AIDS patients who were
also suffering from chronic hepatitis C disease, says an official report available with
Dawn.

The central warehouse - MSD – was established to store bulk purchases of

medicines/equipment meant for the health department at provincial level for the
projects, including IRMNCH, Expanded Programme for Immunisation (EPI), besides
communicable disease control and the TB control programmes.

Health secy claims manufacturer bound to replace stock

According to the report, the hepatitis/HIV-AIDS medicine was purchased by the primary
& secondary healthcare department under the Punjab Aids Control Programme (PACP)
in April 2017 for 5,000 patients at a cost of Rs126 million.
The PACP was headed by additional secretary (technical) Dr Asim Altaf of the primary &
secondary healthcare department.

As per sources, the medicines expired in April this year, but the programme head
allegedly concealed the fact from the higher authorities to avoid punishment.

The government had recently removed Dr Asim from the programme following reports of
sharp increase in the number of HIV-AIDs cases in Punjab, an official said.

Recently, they said, the experts carried out inspection of the MSD warehouse and
detected the scam.

The experts in their report brought it into the notice of the higher authorities,
recommending strict departmental action against those responsible for “the loss to the
national exchequer.”

According to the report, the 30,000 packs of the medicine Sofiget (tablets) which were to
be dispensed among 1,820 patients, were found expired.

It said the PACP received 30,000 combo packs (Sofiget+Ribazole) worth Rs126 million
from Hepatitis C Control Programme on July 12, 2017 with expiry date of April 2019.

“It was stored in MSD, Gulberg, for the use of 5,000 patients of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C
co-infection”, states the report.

It further stated that the PACP got issued 28,180 combo packs of hepatitis C treatment
worth Rs118m from the MSD.

“These packs were distributed to the treatment centres in Punjab and their fate is not
known”, the report mentions.

It pointed out that the remaining 1,820 combo packs were not collected by the PACP
from the MSD and expired.

The experts recommended in the report that notice should be taken of the matter and a
probe be conducted as it involved “heavy loss to the national exchequer”.

The report also mentioned that 9,475 devices purchased under the Non-Communicable
Disease Programme also expired in Feb this year, exposing the apathy of the health
authorities towards the patients as well as the national exchequer.
Health Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman, in his reply to the Dawn query about the issue
said the hepatitis C medicine was procured by the Hepatitis and Infection Control
Programme in FY 2016-17 from M/s Getz Pakistan Pvt Limited.

He said the stock was delivered at Government Sub Medical Store Depot, Thokar Niaz
Baig, Lahore. From this stock, he said, 30,000 packs (5,000 patients courses) were
issued to the PACP on July 11, 2017. The PACP dispatched approximately 5,000 packs
to the patients from the Sub MSD, Thokar Niaz Baig.

Meanwhile, he said, the storage contract of the Thokar Sub MSD lapsed and the entire
stock, including hepatitis C medicine, was moved to the Gulberg MSD in March/April
2018. The operational control of this store was with the M/s TCS Logistics Pvt limited.

From here, he said, the PACP issued the medicine to their facilities from August to
December 2018. After all dispatches by the PACP, a total of 1,820 packs were left in the
store and reached expiry in April, 2019.

M/s TCS Logistics Pvt Limited verbally informed the concerned programmes about the
approaching expiry date of the remaining stock (1,820 packs).

Mr Zaman said that as per the PACP authorities, the manufacturing company was under
an obligation to replace any expired stock with the fresh one.

He said on the directions of the concerned programme, two representatives of M/s Getz
Pakistan Pvt Limited (the manufacturing firm) had visited the Gulberg MSD on April 16
and physically inspected the stocks.

He added that the firm had committed to replace the stock, as communicated by the
officers of the concerned programme.