The Delhi government constituted a committee on Tuesday to investigate holes in the city’s supply of tuberculosis drugs. This comes after The Indian Express reported on December 17 that a 16-year-old patient named Harshita Singh Chandel was unable to obtain TB medicine; she filed a writ suit in the Delhi High Court against the district dispensary and hospital for the inconsistent supply.
The court ordered the state government to supply her with medication.
According to the directive issued by the Directorate General of Health Services, “The committee shall investigate the factual status and gaps in the supply of these medicines, the reasons for these gaps, and the actions done thus far to fill the gaps.
The committee will also make suggestions to ensure an ongoing supply of medicines for TB patients in Delhi. Harshita, who is living in Jahangirpuri with both her parents and two sisters, has been unable for school since July after being diagnosed with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. The medication she needs is mostly out of stock at the government clinic five minutes away from her home.
Her mother, Jyoti Singh, stated that in five months, she only received the drugs — Linezolid and Cycloserine — from the dispensary for one month. On Monday, she obtained medications that would last five days.
Jyoti told The Indian Express on Tuesday that she had received calls from many officials who assured her that the situation would be rectified. “I also received a call from the pharmacy on Tuesday to collect the medicines,” she told me. She added that officials told her that Harshita would receive the monthly TB patient incentive of Rs 500. The family said she had not been receiving the money.
According to a state health department source, the committee will also determine how many of these individuals are unable to obtain medications. Meanwhile, the national government is conducting a 100-day drive to eradicate tuberculosis in 347 high-priority districts across 33 states and union territories in India.