The Ministry of Health opined that statements made by certain health professionals including doctors with regard to problematic situations in the health sector, are 'very disappointing'.

While the country has seen several deaths due to the alleged use of substandard pharmaceutical drugs and vaccines that are said to have been imported without following the due quality checking procedure in the recent past, the authorities, particularly the Ministry and the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA), are seen being criticised by various parties including health professionals themselves. 

Speaking to The Daily Morning, the Ministry’s Secretary Janaka Sri Chandraguptha opined that statements made by certain health professionals are 'very disappointing'. "Every country is procuring medicine to ensure the well-being of the people. That is what we, too, are doing. However, these statements made by health professionals are very disappointing. I don’t know if everything will go right if everything is done as they say."

One of the main allegations that have been levelled against the Ministry and the NMRA is that they have imported unregistered drugs and vaccines, and that they are causing various complications to patients.

In response to such allegations, Chandraguptha said on Wednesday (19) that there are provisions under the NMRA Act for importing drugs without the approval of expert committees, in cases of emergencies. "The Board of Directors of the NMRA has the authority to grant permission for the importation of drugs that are not approved by the expert committees, but, they do so only after studying all the facts such as whether the relevant drugs are registered in other countries, are there registrations with the relevant organisations such as the World Health Organisation, and are there any cases of patients suffering complications due to the use of such drugs."