Although private pharmacies in the country sell about 7,500 different brands of medicines, it is reported that nearly 700 brands of medicines are subject to price control.
Accordingly, patients who purchase medicines from outside have had to pay a large amount for those medicines, says Specialist Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa, Chairman of the Doctors’ Trade Union Alliance for Medical and Civil Rights.
Recently, the Ministry of Health issued a gazette notification to regulate the prices of nearly sixty categories of medicines, and under these sixty categories of medicines, about seven hundred different brands of medicines are subject to price control.
However, he points out that nearly seven thousand other drugs of various brands that are not subject to price control are sold in private and government pharmacies across the island, and as a result, the monthly cost of the drugs for patients who take them for a long time is increasing sharply.
While the Drug Regulatory Authority points out the importance of working quickly to control this price with an agreement between private pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies, he also says that it is important for the relevant parties to be interested in resolving the pending legal matters before the courts in this regard quickly for the benefit of the general public.
A price formula has been introduced to control the price of drugs, and amid the crisis situation that has arisen regarding this price formula, the authorities have failed to reach a specific policy regarding drug price control so far.
Currently, there is a significant shortage of drugs in private pharmacies across the island, so people suffering from long-term illnesses, including cancer patients, have had to seek private assistance from foreign countries to import drugs, the doctor says.
One of the main reasons for this is that many major pharmaceutical companies that were already operating in the country have stopped their supplies and orders to Sri Lanka. Many pharmaceutical companies have recently stopped operations in Sri Lanka.