Admitting that there is a temporary shortage of Filgrastim injections, which are used to help cancer patients recover their white blood cell counts following chemotherapy and are also required for procedures including bone marrow transplants, Health Minister Dr Nalinda Jayatissa said that hospitals have been permitted to make local purchases and suppliers have been instructed to urgently bring stocks into the country by air freight.
He made the remarks in response to a question raised by Parliamentarian Shanakiyan Rasamanickam, following reports from patients and their families that Filgrastim is in short supply at Government hospitals, including the Apeksha Hospital (the National Cancer Institute). He said that Filgrastim is particularly important for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy because chemotherapy can reduce white blood cell counts and leave patients more vulnerable to infections.
“Therefore, this medicine has to be given when necessary during chemotherapy. In some cases, having the chemotherapy drug alone is not of use if this medicine is not available.” He said that the shortage has existed in the Government hospitals since last month (July) due to delays in supplies from the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC), and that hospitals that require the medicine had consequently been authorised to purchase it locally.
The annual requirement for Filgrastim is around 300,000 vials, with approximately 27,500 required each month and around 900 per day. The Apeksha Hospital alone requires about 9,750 vials a month, or approximately 325 a day, he said. According to him, arrangements had been made to import 310,000 vials for this year (2026), while approval has already been granted to import 330,000 vials for next year (2027). He said that the Medical Supplies Division (MSD) had placed the order for the 2026 requirement on 21 January of last year (2025), around nine and a half months before the supplies were required, while the order for 2027 had been placed on 22 December 2025, more than 12 and a half months in advance.
"Of the 310,000 vials ordered for 2026, the supplier brought 160,000 into Sri Lanka on 18 May. The consignment had been prepared for clearance and distribution when an issue was identified during inspection. The label was not properly placed on the syringes. There was a label on the cardboard packaging, but, there was no label on the syringes. This absence of the label amounted to a major deviation under the conditions imposed by the National Medicines Regulatory Authority." He said that the Government had subsequently instructed the supplier to urgently bring a quantity of the medicine by air freight, while the supplier responsible for the 2027 order had also been asked to expedite its delivery. “The supplier has been told to bring an urgent quantity by air. We have also informed the supplier for the 2027 requirement to provide the medicine as quickly as possible. We are working to find a solution to the shortage,” he said.
Meanwhile, the shortage of several Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor medicines used in cancer treatment is expected to be resolved within a few days, the Director General of the MSD Dr Sampath Ranaweera told The Daily Morning yesterday (20). He said that there is currently a shortage of medicines including Neup, Neupogen, GCadF and Filgrastim, which are used in the treatment of cancer patients. “At the moment, there’s a shortage of the drugs. But, it’ll be resolved as early as possible,” Dr Ranaweera said. He said that orders had been placed with the SPC, but that the medicines had not yet been supplied.
SPC Chairperson Dr Indika Wanninayake said that the 2026 consignment of Filgrastim had been delivered but was rejected by the MSD over a labelling issue, while the expedited 2027 stock is now on its way. He said that the SPC is the procurement agency for the MSD and that it had received the MSD’s requirement for Filgrastim for 2026 and 2027. “The 2026 order was delivered, but there was an issue with the labelling and the consignment was therefore rejected by the MSD. The 2027 stock is expedited and is now on the way. We have also issued the purchase order for the 2027 stock,” he said.