Parliament Question: Shortage of Essential Medicines

GOVERNMENTOFINDIA MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENTOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 3254 TO BE ANSWERED ON07.08.2026 SHORTAGEOFESSENTIALMEDICINES †3254. SHRISATPALBRAHAMCHARI:

SHRIJAI PARKASH:

SHRISANATAN PANDEY:

Will the Ministerof HEALTH AND FAMILYWELFAREbe pleasedtostate:

(a) whether it is a fact that many essential medicines prescribed by doctors in Government hospitals and health centres inthe Sonipat, Hisar and Ballia Parliamentary Constituencies are not available in the hospitals thereby forcing patients to purchase them from private medical stores, if so, the detailsthereof;

(b) the details of funds sanctioned, released and spent under the National Health Mission for the Sonipat, Hisar and Ballia Parliamentary Constituencies during the last three years along with the detailsof the health facilitiesstrengthened thereby;

(c) the major reasons for the shortage of essential medicines in Government hospitals along with the steps taken by the Government to ensure the regular availability of essential medicines in Government hospitals, strengthen the drug supply chain and digitally monitor drug stocks; and

(d) whether the Government is formulating any action plan for a permanent solution to this problem by providing additional budget, improving drug storage capacity and enhancing supply mechanismsandif so, the details thereof? ANSWER THE MINISTER OFSTATE IN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE (SHRIPRATAPRAO JADHAV)

(a) to (d): ‘Public Health and Hospitals’ are state subject. However, under the National Health Mission (NHM), financial & technical support is provided to the States/Union Territories (UTs) for strengthening their healthcare delivery system including support for provision of free essential medicines in public health facilities based on the requirements posed by States/UTs including Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in their ProgrammeImplementation Plans (PIPs) within their overall resource envelope. The details of the approvals given to the States of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are available at website of Ministry of HealthandFamily Welfareat the Uniform Resources Locator(URL) asunder:

https://www.nhm.gov.in/index1.php?lang=1&level=1&sublinkid=1377&lid=744 The details of Central release under the National Health Mission (NHM) during last

three financialyear tothe Stateof Haryana andUttar Pradeshare asfollows: (Rs. In Crore) State 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 Central Expenditure Central Expenditure Central Expenditure Release Release Release Haryana 524.01 1,221.41 562.49 1,127.06 636.01 1,402.07 Uttar 4,928.14 10,572.60 5,853.43 10,377.16 5,686.12 11,069.32 Pradesh

Note:TheabovereleasesrelatetoCentralGovt.Grants&donotincludeStatesharecontribution.

The Government of Uttar Pradesh has informed that Hospitals under the Ballia Parliamentary constituency have adequate availability of medicines in accordance with the Essential Drugs List (EDL) and the prescribed norms. All doctors have beeninstructed not to prescribe medicinesfrom outside sources topatients.

To ensure availability of essential drugs and reduce the Out-of-Pocket Expenditure

(OOPE) of the patients visiting the public health facilities, Government of has rolled out the Free Drugs Service Initiative (FDSI) under NHM. The Ministry has recommended facility wise Essential MedicinesList (EML) tobe made availableat the public healthcare facilities.

Under Free Drugs Service Initiative (FDSI), Government of India supports procurement of drugs and strengthening robust systems of procurement, Quality Assurance, Supply chain management and warehousing, Prescription audit, grievance redressal, dissemination of Standard Treatment Guidelines and Establishment of IT enabled platform DVDMS (Drugs & Vaccine Distribution Management System) for monitoring the real status of procurementandavailability of essential medicines.

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