Although the Health Ministers and the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation have stated that the current shortage of medicines in the country will be resolved before the year 2026, there is already a shortage of nearly a hundred essential and non-essential medicines in major hospitals across the island, says Specialist Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa, Chairman of the Doctors' Trade Union Alliance for Medical and Civil Rights. He points out that among the shortages of medicines, there are also many items used for surgical procedures.
He says that this shortage of medicines has been increasing for almost a year and that it is clearly a political and administrative weakness. He says that this crisis has been growing since the time of former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella and that senior officials of the Health Ministry are directly responsible for it. He points out that the current Minister of Health and the State Pharmaceutical Corporation and other responsible parties are still keen to control the situation.
He also points out that patient care services are currently hampered due to the shortage of medicines and surgical items such as IV Noradrenaline, IV cefotaxime, iv amicacine, clarithomycine, levofloxacillin, inj adenosine, sodium nitroprusside, inj verapamil, isoprenaline, protamine sulphate, inj promethazine as well as GTN, salbutamol oral solution, prolene, polypropylene, nylon, knee implants used for wound suturing.
He also points out that as the stocks of these medicines in the medical supply unit and the drug stores of major hospitals have reached a low level, allowing the government to purchase these medicines locally will cause serious economic damage.