• Lab short of 30 personnel 
• Quality testing begins at uni labs 

The National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) is grappling with a severe shortage of around 30 vacancies in its laboratory, compromising its ability to conduct thorough quality tests on imported medicines, The Sunday Morning learns.

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, NMRA Chairman Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama said that the authority’s National Medicines Quality Assurance Laboratory (NMQAL), which conducts laboratory testing to determine the quality of medicines, was short of about 30 personnel. 

“The issue of substandard medicines over the past couple of years was mainly due to the registration process not being followed properly, but at the same time, we have to also keep testing the quality,” he said.

“This wasn’t taking place to the extent it should have due to a lack of staff. We are still facing this issue, so it is not possible to conduct testing to the extent we would like.”

Accordingly, he said that the NMRA had started testing samples in university laboratories about four weeks ago to ensure quality. 

Last year, the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) criticised the NMRA over a number of issues, including a lack of senior pharmacists at the institution, warning that this could affect the quality testing of medicines. 

Over the last two years, the country has dealt with incidents of substandard medicines being administered to patients. Key amongst them is the consignment of fake immunoglobulin that the Health Ministry had cleared for use, which eventually led to the arrest of several leading officials including former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella.

Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) Spokesperson Dr. Chamil Wijesinghe told The Sunday Morning that the lack of a “fully-functioning” laboratory was a consistent issue faced by the NMRA, noting that in addition to staff shortages, the NMQAL also lacked up-to-date technology and other resources. 

“This issue cannot be fixed in a day or two and until Sri Lanka has a fully-functioning laboratory, there will be no permanent solution to the matter. Until such time, we have to make maximum use of the existing laboratory and empower it, for example, by filling up vacancies. 

“In the recent past, the Health Ministry wasn’t recruiting staff either. We have a reasonable doubt as to whether this was done intentionally due to the political climate at the time. We see a slight positive change in the ministry now.” 

Meanwhile, Dr. Wijewickrama said that the Government’s current recruitment freeze across the board meant that the NMRA had to request for permission for each recruitment from the Department of Management Services (DMS).

“They give approval but it is a process that takes time. We have received the approval to recruit staff for the NMQAL and we are now in the process of advertising.” 

Commenting on whether the high numbers of medical professionals migrating in search of greener pastures would affect recruitment, Dr. Wijewickrama said: “We have to get people somehow. We can’t increase salaries as approval is needed from the DMS. We are negotiating this as well as allowances at the moment with them.”