Pipalkot (Baitadi), March 13:

Shortage of medicines in the Primary Health Centre of Shree Kedar Village Development Committee and other health centres in Deulek, Shreekot and Singtang VDCs has hit locals hard.

“So much so, the health centre of Shree Kedar VDC has no stock of essential drugs like Cetamol and Jeewanjal (an ORS administered on people suffering from diarrhoea),’’ Rajendra Bahadur Bista of Shree VDC said.

There is no way except to walk for nearly five hours to the district headquarters to get medicines if anyone falls ill.

Although Shree Kedar VDC lies near Dashrath Chand Municipality-8, it lacks basic infrastructure and facilities.

“Not even a tablet of Cetamol is available at the health centre,” said Dura Devi Bhatta, a 45-year-old woman, questioning: What’s the use of the health centre if it can’t provide us with medicines.” “I had to go to the district headquarters to get medicines when my grandchildren fell ill.”

Terming the unavailability of medicines unfortunate, Mahadev Bhatta, a teacher, called on the concerned authorities to address the problem.

Health centres based in other remote VDCs of Baitadi district, including Deulek, Shreekot and Singtang, have also been reeling under the shortage of medicines, Bhatta said.

Asserting the shortage of medicines in the health centre of Shree Kedar VDC, Assistant Health Worker (AHW) Madhav Prasad Bhatta said the District Public Health Office (DPHO), Baitadi has been informed about the situation.

As epidemics break out during the summer, the government must supply medicines and make provisions for other facilities in the health centres of remote villages, locals said.

Chief of the DPHO, Baitadi, Ramji Tiwari, was not available for comment. AHW at the office, Jay Dev Joshi, said the stock of medicines was finished and a contract for supplying medicines had been finalised recently.