The Deputy Director General of the Medical Supplies Division, Dr. G. Wijesuriya, said that there is already a shortage of about 170 medicines in the country.
He stated before the Committee on Public Enterprises that there has been no medicine for diseases such as asthma and diarrhea for more than 03 months, and if this medicine is not provided when needed, patients may die.
He also said that the lack of registered companies to import these medicines is a problem. At that time, the Deputy Director General of the Medical Supplies Division, Dr. G. Wijesuriya, further commented as follows.
“We generally have 862 types of medicines. Out of these 862, about 170 are already in short supply. There are various reasons for this. We usually give the procurement of medicines related to the year 2026 to the SPC by January 31 of this year. Accordingly, the SPC has almost a year to make these procurements.
But it takes the SPC 09 months for this procurement process. I have participated in the tenders of the SPC in the past as a member. During the 2023-24 period, I have seen that about 50% of the files that come to the tender boards are canceled.
Today, out of 862 types of medicines, 37 medicines do not have a single registrant. There are about sixty other medicines, but only one person has registered. Many of these people do not come forward for this.
Let me give an example. Currently, there is a medicine that needs to be given when a person develops asthma. If it is not given, the patient may die. It has been more than 3 months. Even today, it is not available in Sri Lanka. Only 3 tenders have been submitted. Only two companies are registered. Both of them are not submitting. So it has become a very serious problem for us to provide this medicine. Even today, we have failed. We have no method to obtain it.”