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No hospital has informed of essential drugs’ shortage

30 Mar 2022

  • Pharma State Ministry responds to reports of lab services, routine surgeries at NHSL, Karapitiya being restricted
BY Buddhika Samaraweera The Production, Supply, and Regulation of Pharmaceuticals State Ministry informed that the authorities of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) in Colombo and the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital have not informed of any shortage of essential drugs, despite the heads of the said hospitals having informed their doctors to restrict laboratory services and routine surgeries due to a shortage of reagents and anaesthetic drugs. Speaking to The Morning, State Ministry Secretary Dr. S.K. Rathnayake said: “If there is a shortage of any drug, the hospital authorities should inform us before informing the media about such. However, no hospital has informed us of a drug shortage. A political motive also seems to be behind the reports of drug shortages in certain hospitals.” When inquired about the reports to the effect that the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital is having limited stocks of Neostigmine (an anaesthetic, among others), he said that stocks of the said drug were to arrive yesterday (30). “In addition to Neostigmine, there is some shortage of two other drugs named Streptokinase and Tenecteplase (both of which are used as life-saving drugs in heart attacks). Although not in very high quantities as usual, all the essential drugs are however available in small quantities. However, the media should be informed about the shortages of drugs if the hospitals do not receive them even after requesting them from us,” said Dr. Rathnayake. Through a letter dated 29 March (Tuesday), the Director of the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital had informed all anaesthetists, surgeons, the Chief Nursing Officer, and nurses of all surgical wards and operation theatres that there was a shortage of Neostigmine at the hospital. Therefore, anaesthetists at the hospital had been informed to suspend the non-life threatening surgeries for which the said drug is required. Furthermore, NHSL Deputy Director Dr. Samiddhi Samarakoon, in a letter dated 29 March, which was seen by The Morning, had informed the hospital’s Deputy Directors, consultants, and all grades of medical officers to limit the routine investigations of their respective units until further notice, claiming that the supply chain for reagents at the NHSL laboratory has been interrupted due to the financial crisis. Meanwhile, the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital said on Tuesday that routine surgeries, which were temporarily suspended due to shortages of essential medical supplies, had been resumed as the Health Ministry’s Medical Supplies Division (MSD) had promised supplies by the evening of that day. “We decided to suspend all routine surgeries temporarily. These are planned surgeries, such as hernias, that can be postponed. Along with the situation in the country, we are facing a slight shortage of several medical supplies required for surgeries. So, we decided this week that we need to prioritise emergency surgeries. However, the MSD promised us supplies. Therefore, we have decided to go ahead with the routine surgeries, using the stocks we kept aside for emergencies,” Peradeniya Teaching Hospital Director Dr. H.M. Arjuna Thilakarathne said. Commenting on the matter, Health Ministry Communications Director, Public Health Services Deputy Director General, and Disaster Preparedness and Response Division Head Dr. Hemantha Herath explained that with the country’s current crisis situation, it cannot be denied that there are difficulties being faced by the health sector. “However, hospital directors are in constant and direct communication with Director General of Health Services Dr. Asela Gunawardena to somehow manage these problems and move forward,” he added. 


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