Parliament Question: Non-availability of medicines in government hospitals

GOVERNMENT OFINDIA MINISTRYOFHEALTHAND FAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENT OFHEALTHAND FAMILYWELFARE RAJYASABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 3650 TOBE ANSWERED ON24th MARCH, 2026 NON-AVAILABILITY OF MEDICINES IN GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS 3650#SHRINEERAJ DANGI: Will the Ministerof HEALTH AND FAMILYWELFAREbe pleasedtostate: (a) whether it is a fact that essential medicines remain unavailable for months in District Hospitals andPrimaryHealth Centres(PHCs) inseveral States,if so, the reasons therefor; (b) whether it is also a fact that, despite the allocation of thousands of crores of rupees every yearfor the supply of medicines,shortages of medicinescontinue topersist inhospitals; (c) the successful efforts being made by Government to ensure the availability of essential medicinesinallGovernment hospitals inthe country; and (d) the plan formulated by Government to make the Free Drugs Service Initiative effective in Government hospitals across the country? ANSWER THE MINISTER OFSTATE IN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTH & FAMILYWELFARE (SHRI PRATAPRAOJADHAV) (a) to (d): Health is a State subject & under the National Health Mission (NHM), financial support is provided to the States/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/UTsin theirProgrammeImplementation Plans(PIPs) within theiroverallresource envelope. 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 andEstablishment of IT enabled platform DVDMS (Drugs & Vaccine Distribution Management System) for monitoring the real status of procurement and availabilityof essential medicines. Ministry of Health and Welfare (MoHFW) has recommended facility wise Essential Medicines List (EML) to be made available at the public healthcare facilities which includes provision of a variety of free services related to maternal health, child health, adolescent health, family planning, universal immunisation programme, and for major diseases. The facility wise number of medicines in the EML includes 106 drugs at Sub Health Centre level, 172 at Primary Health Centre level, 300 at Community Health Centre level, 318 at Sub- district Hospital level and 381 drugs at district Hospital level. However, States have the flexibilitytoaddmore medicines.Quality of drugs procured, under FDSI, is ensured through the operational guidelines of the initiativethat • All drugs must be sourced from Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) compliantmanufacturers through robust procurementmechanism. • Post supply testing of everybatch before distributing tothe healthfacilities. ****