Hospitals across Sri Lanka are currently facing a severe shortage of 190 essential medicines, according to findings discussed during a recent drug review meeting at the Ministry of Health.
The meeting, chaired by Director General of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardena last Thursday, revealed that bureaucratic delays within key government agencies are largely responsible for the crisis. Specifically, it was noted that finalized procurement files at the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation and letters awaiting approval from the Price Regulation Committee of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority have caused significant supply bottlenecks.
Officials from the Medical Supplies Division warned that the situation could deteriorate further following the Sinhala and Hindu New Year, unless urgent steps are taken. They highlighted that while some locally manufactured drugs could help ease the pressure, the delays in file approvals have slowed down even those options.
Additionally, it came to light that around 200 completed procurement files at the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation remain stuck in the system, while only 90 files have so far been cleared for suppliers to proceed with imports.
The officials also discussed launching a new program to expedite the procurement of essential medicines at the state level.
Efforts to obtain a comment from Dr. G. Wijesuriya, Deputy Director General of the Medical Supplies Division, were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.
