While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had announced its zero prescription policy on November 23, 2023, it has not been put into effect at any of the four medical college hospitals under its jurisdiction.
This policy means that patients will not need to buy any medications from pharmacies other than civic hospitals. The goal is to relieve patients of the financial burden of covering their treatment costs. BMC had even allocated INR 500 crore for this initiative, expecting to start it in April.
The policy is intended to increase the number of scheduled items from around 1,200 to 4,000. This would offer patients prescription-free treatment at BMC-run facilities. However, BMC faced criticism for limiting the policy to Mumbai residents, excluding patients from other areas. This created two distinct cost systems.
No recent discussions or implementation steps have occurred regarding the policy. According to hospital officials, the Central Purchasing Department is still in the procurement process. Many medicines doctors frequently prescribe are not available at these hospitals. Patients have to buy these medications from private pharmacies.
In a recent report, Midday quoted Dr. Sudhakar Shinde stating that the auxiliary municipal commissioner for health, explaining that tenders for four to five thousand items have closed and are being reviewed. Implementing all 13 schedules at once is not feasible, so the implementation will be phased in schedule by schedule.
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