Procurement and distribution of medicines in government hospitals of Tamil Nadu – An overview

Abstract

It is an established truth that the drug availability in the Indian public health system is always remaining as a problem. One can attribute many reasons like shortage of fund, inefficient indenting procedures, poor inventory management and others for the problem. Recognizing the shortage of medicines in government hospitals, many Indian states have introduced exclusive set ups for the purchase of medicines for the hospitals. They procure medicines through centralized pooled purchases. Kerala, Delhi, and Tamil Nadu governments were introduced such pooled procurement system for drug purchase. Tamil Nadu, a major state in India started a corporation styled as Tamil Nadu Medical Service Corporation (TNMSC) registered under the Companies Act 1956 in July 1994. With the help of a well-designed and scientifically planned scheme TNMSC could introduce many innovations and thereby revolutionize the public drug procurement system in the country. Articles about the drug purchase systems followed in hospitals are rare. In this article mainly focusing the procurements methods adopted by the Tamil Nadu State.