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Nearly 50% of Medical Supplies Division’s stocks over?

24 Apr 2022

  • Government Pharmacists make alarming claim
  • Say six life-saving drugs and 239 essential drugs in short supply 
By Buddhika Samaraweera The Society of Government Pharmacists (SGP) has claimed that about 50% of the stocks of medical supplies in the Medical Supplies Division (MSD) of the Ministry of Health have been exhausted. Speaking to The Morning yesterday (24), SGP President Ajith Thilakaratne said that out of the 1,358 medicines that should be in the MSD, stocks of 525 have been depleted. Among them are six life-saving drugs, 239 essential drugs and 280 rarely used drugs. “Especially, drugs that are used to treat heart patients and provide the rabies vaccine are out of stock. Most of them are scheduled to be imported under the Indian credit facility, but it will take another six weeks of time,” he said. Thilakaratne also said that out of the 8,553 surgical items required to be in the MSD, stocks of 5,376, which is 62.9% of the total requirement, have been depleted. Noting that the above drugs and surgical items may be available in very small quantities in hospitals, he said that the lack of medical supplies in the MSD to be issued to hospitals could lead to a collapse of the hospital system. “We, the SGP, informed the relevant parties four months ago that this situation was being created, but there was no acceptable intervention for that. As pharmacists, we are still trying to manage this situation as much as possible,” he added. The MSD is the main organisation responsible for providing all pharmaceuticals, surgical items, laboratory items, radioactive items, printed materials, etc. for government sector healthcare institutions throughout the country, as well as the central organisation where these medical supplies are stored until they are distributed among healthcare institutions. In addition, the MSD is also responsible for supplying dangerous drugs and essential medical items that are not available to the private sector in the open market. Meanwhile, the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) staged a protest in front of the Health Ministry on 6 April, demanding that the Government immediately address the shortage of essential pharmaceutical drugs in the country and provide the necessary financial allocations for the health services on time. Speaking to the media on the day, GMOA General Secretary Dr. Senal Fernando stated that although the GMOA had, on a number of occasions, requested former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella for an opportunity to discuss the shortage of essential drugs in the country, they had not been given an opportunity. Dr. Fernando also accused the Government of not providing accurate information to the public and the health staff including doctors about the shortage of drugs despite the crisis. He added that in the face of the shortage of drugs, doctors would even have to limit some treatments as they would have to save on drugs for emergencies.


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