The All-Island Private Pharmacy Owners’ Association (AIPPOA) has called on the Government to eliminate price controls on 60 identified medicines and implement a unified pricing formula for all medications based on their Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) values.
AIPPOA President Chandika Gankanda told The Sunday Morning that Sri Lanka was at a significant risk of losing access to high-quality pharmaceutical products due to the Government’s imposition of price controls on these 60 medicines.
Expressing concern, he said: “With no original medicines coming to Sri Lanka now, how can patients cure their illnesses? Original Voltaren medicines are not coming now, and stocks of Xanax and augmentin are depleting. Without original products, substitutes are being used. We lack the mechanism to test the quality of medications, and in such a backdrop, it is tricky to keep control over 60 pharmaceuticals.”
Gankanda explained that there were around 1,200 medicines in Sri Lanka, with only 60 among them being controlled. “This is not practical,” he stressed.
The Health Ministry issued a new gazette in June, revising the Maximum Retail Prices (MRPs) of 60 types of medicines, including paracetamol. The prices of these medicines were accordingly reduced by 16% with effect from 26 June.
The prices of all medicines were revised three times since 2021 due to exchange rate fluctuations, with increases of 9%, 29%, and 40% respectively.
In 2021, medicine prices saw a 9% increase, and in 2022, local pharmaceutical prices were revised twice to address the gap caused by the drastic devaluation of the rupee in 2021.
In March 2022, the prices of 60 essential drugs were raised by 29% through an extraordinary gazette notification.
Health sector trade unions have urged the Government to reduce medicine prices to align with falling exchange rates and other economic indicators. Despite visible reductions in other areas affecting medicine prices, such as exchange rates, trade unions claim that prices have remained unchanged for several months.
Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) Spokesperson Dr. Chamil Wijesinghe emphasised that the cost of prescription drugs remained unaffordable for the masses, although the Government had stated that the economy had stabilised.
Dr. Wijesinghe explained that Sri Lanka, which was among the top five countries with the highest food price inflation, had improved in that regard. Prices of goods and services have somewhat decreased, and the price of fuel has also dropped. However, the price of medicine has not followed this trend.
Trade unions have alleged that the price cap imposed by the Government only applies to 71 items declared by the Government, while the prices of other items have been increased by importers by around 600-800%. Complaints also persist about private hospitals exploiting patients with high charges.
All attempts to contact Health Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana and Ministry Secretary Janaka Sri Chandraguptha proved futile.