Residents of Dagestan complain about absence of free drugs in hospitals

Patients of Dagestani medical institutions have to buy the medications prescribed by doctors, patients and their relatives assert. The local Ministry of Public Health states that all the hospitals are fully provided with the necessary medicines, and each such case should be checked.

The problem of providing the republic's treatment facilities with drugs was raised on May 28 at the session of the People's Assembly of Dagestan by the MP Akhmed Izilov. He said that a special parliamentary group had reviewed several hospitals without prior warning of their bosses. According to Izilov, the inspection revealed several hospitals, where patients had to by drugs for their money.

Residents of Dagestan also told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent about facts, when people had to buy the drugs, which under the law should have been free, for their own money. According to Zarema Abduragimova, a resident of Makhachkala, this was the case that occurred on May 9 with her mother, who is treated at City Hospital No. 1.

"Most probably, the situation with the deficit (real or fictional) of drugs in hospitals arose after medical institutions were obliged to conduct auctions through the Republic's Committee for Procurement," said Ali Ismailov, a lawyer.

Earlier, doctors also noted that hospitals have enough medicines; and nobody is forcing patients to buy drugs.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.