Health Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana emphasizes the importance of producing necessary medicines within the country, stating that the government will offer full support for this initiative. He stresses the need for transparent processes to ensure the step-by-step formalization of medicine production.
Currently, only 20 percent or 208 types of medicines are produced domestically, and the country relies on imports for the remaining medicines, incurring an annual cost of 700 million dollars. Dr. Ramesh Pathirana highlighted these points during discussions with pharmaceutical manufacturers at the ministry.
The minister acknowledged that there is room for improvement in the public perception of both the pharmaceutical industry and the health ministry.
