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Panel asks health ministry to address issues in medicine procurement & distribution in CGHS
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Gireesh Babu, New Delhi
February 12 , 2025
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A Parliamentary Panel which looked into the functioning of the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) has asked the Ministry of Health to review the existing systems of drug procurement, distribution and testing quality, and suggest some effective measures to mitigate the prevailing problems.
The recommendation follows its previous directions to the Ministry to adopt various measures to ensure safety and quality of the medicines, including inspections on laboratories that test medicines to be supplied through the CGHS, and surprise test of random batch of medicines through any third party independent NABL-accredited laboratories.
The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, in its 160th report on action taken by the government on its recommendations in 155th report on functioning of CGHS, reiterated its previous recommendations with regard to medicines purchased and distributed through the system.
The Panel noted that in the action taken report, the Ministry has provided an account of the extant systems in place for addressing the issues, based on the recommendations of the Committee related to delay in procurement & subsequent distribution of medicines, supply of medicines and quality of medicines disbursed at the pharmacy counter of the dispensary.
"The Committee would like to impress upon the Ministry that if the existing systems were fool-proof, there would not have been so many complaints/grievances upon which the Committee felt the need to recommend," observed the Panel.
"Therefore, the Committee reiterates its recommendations and wants the Ministry to review the existing systems and suggest some effective measures to mitigate these persisting problems," it added.
In its previous report, the Panel observed that the medicines are often not procured promptly, causing inconvenience to the beneficiaries. In many cases, the bid/contract of the Authorised Local Chemist (ALC) is not renewed well in time, and the dispensary is not in a position to supply the medicines. The Ministry replied that it takes utmost care on supply of medicines promptly to the beneficiaries, and the ALC contracts are being renewed well on time.
The Panel also recommended the Ministry in its previous report to conduct investigation on the issues of delay in procurement and subsequent distribution of medicines, and establish a mechanism to ensure the continuous availability of basic/essential medicines at CGHS dispensaries so that the need for local purchase does not arise. The Ministry responded that application interfaces have been put in place so that Medical Stores Organisations (MSO) and Depots (MSD) can observe their stock position and supplies in the pipeline. Drug Vaccine Distribution and Management System (DVDMS) is in place in MSO, which has improved the inventory management and distribution, it added.
Further, the Panel observed that there are several complaints regarding the quality of medicines disbursed at the pharmacy counter of the dispensary. In the 155th report, it recommended the Ministry to establish a mechanism ensuring rigorous testing of medicines and that the Ministry may inspect these laboratories and surprise test any random batch of medicines through any third independent NABL-accredited laboratory.
The Ministry may also consider testing random batches of medicines from a reputed international laboratory, it added.
The Ministry responded to these recommendations that a quality assurance and inspection protocol is already in place by the MSO, for supply of medicines to its CGHS. Besides, the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) has a quality assurance protocol in place, where testing is already being done by an NABL certified laboratory. It added that the random testing is also already being done.
After considering these replies from the Ministry, the Panel in its latest report reiterated its previous recommendations and sought the Ministry to review the existing systems and suggest some effective measures to address the issues.
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