By Many lives are in danger as about 150 essential drugs are in short supply reports the Hindu. Sri Lanka’s health sector is still short of over 150 essential drugs
“We are trying our best to maintain an optimum level of supplies, but there is a shortage,”
Dr. D.R.K. Herath, Deputy Director General of the Health Ministry’s Medical Supplies Division told The Hindu.
Many medical professionals who spoke to Lanka Newsline said that they don’t see light at the end of the tunnel as procurement keeps slowing and an end to the foreign exchange crisis is nowhere near.
Meanwhile, to cope with the short supply of drugs, hospitals are using a recently set up centralized system for supplies and coordinating among themselves. But the shortages are a “significant” factor for the day-to-day functioning of the country’s health sector, said Dr. Surantha Perera, Vice-President of the Sri Lanka Medical Association, a national-level professional body for practitioners.
Over 80 % of Sri Lanka’s medical supplies are imported. In 2021, the country imported more than $800 million worth of pharmaceutical products., reported the Hindu.
