Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella said that a few voices have expressed their concern over the importation of medicines from companies not registered with the NMRA, and if the patients face any issues owing to this, the
He said that the process of procuring medicines with the approval of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority takes between six and 12 months, and there is no harm in purchasing medicine that is used by countries like the US and Japan and that has been approved by the European Union.
The minister made these remarks while addressing the media yesterday (19) in Kandy.
Minister Rambukwella says that the cabinet has agreed to offer government bonds to the suppliers to avoid the problems that have arisen in the importation of medicines because the government owes about 60 billion rupees to the drug suppliers.
The Minister also said that since about 90% of drug suppliers have expressed their consent for this, the shortage of drugs in this country will be reduced by 80–90% by the next quarter.
He emphasized that due to the lack of money for the importation of drugs, the strength of the suppliers to import the drugs has decreased, and with the issuance of bonds, that problem will gradually ease off.
Rambukwella said that a program to disrupt the process of bringing the medicines needed for the patients is in operation with the help of some doctors, and all the information about this sinister move will be disclosed shortly.
He said that the primary objective of the Ministry of Health is to get the necessary medicines to the patients at the right time and that they will work for that no matter what obstacles come up.
He emphasized that this step was taken to bring medicines to Sri Lanka in a short period of time, and some people are criticizing this, saying that it was mainly for political reasons and not for the welfare of the people.
The Minister said that tenders were called for the import of 186 medicines by the companies approved by the Drug Regulatory Authority, out of which tenders were submitted for only three types of medicinal drugs.
He said that as the government has to pay about 60 billion rupees to pharmaceutical companies, the companies will not come forward to import drugs, and he said that he expects to solve the problems by settling the dues by April.
