KATHMANDU, Sept 19: Acting on a public interest litigation (PIL), the Supreme Court on Monday ordered the government to open a subsidized pharmacy at each public hospital and distribute free medicines from such pharmacy. It has also ordered the government not to allow private-sector pharmacies on the premises of public hospitals.
The PIL was filed at the court two years ago by one Bishnu Prasad Timilsina on behalf of the Forum for Protection of Consumer Rights Nepal demanding that the government set up pharmacies on public hospital premises and ban private-sector pharmacies from operating on the premises of such hospitals.
The government provides 72 types of medicines free of cost from government health facilities.
A joint bench of justices Bishwambhar Prasad Shrestha and Tej Bahadur KC ordered the government to open one pharmacy each at public hospitals which receive grants from the government. The petitioner had made Nepal government, the prime minister, the council of ministers and the National Academy of Medical Sciences, Bir Hospital as defendants.
Timilsina said that the people are being cheated by the private-sector pharmacies at the hospitals. “We compared the prices at a private pharmacy at Bir Hospital and a pharmacy at the Manmohan Cardiovascular Center at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj,” he said, adding, “We found that Bir pharmacy sold Panzol-40 per tablet at Rs 9 while TUTH sold it at Rs 5.45 per tablet,” he added.
There are 109 government hospitals and 154 private-sector hospitals across the country. Most of the private hospital also receive government grants, according to Timilsina.