• Political and economic crises result in acute shortages 
• State hospitals halt medicine procurement process
• Timely order of medication essential to ensure supply
• Experts fear essential medicine stocks may run out soon
• State Pharmaceutical Corp. faces fuel crisis
• Private hospitals under strain

By Maheesha Mudugamuwa  Medical experts last week warned the Government to take immediate action to ensure an uninterrupted supply of essential medicines to prevent a possible medical calamity. According to them, there is a shortage of 300 essential drugs in the country, including drugs that are needed to treat cancer patients and heart patients Experts also fear that the drugs which are currently in short supply will run out towards the end of this month.   The existing drug shortage, which has been amplified due to the prevailing foreign exchange crisis, had worsened over the last week due to the ongoing political instability and as a result the fund allocations and approvals for drug purchasing processes had also come to a standstill. Health experts urged the authorities to take the necessary steps to stabilise the country and appoint the required authorities immediately to solve the existing shortage. Speaking to The Sunday Morning, a member of the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) Dr. Prasad Colombage stressed that over 300 items were short in supply at present and it was vital to expedite the purchasing processes before these drugs ran out. “Currently there is a shortage of drugs. Unless the stocks come on time, by the end of this month the drugs that are currently in short supply will go out of stock. Then the situation will be scary,” he stressed. Dr. Colombage noted that the purchasing processes at Government hospitals had been halted last week due to political instability. “There was no responsible authority to give approvals for the purchasing of several items. As a result, the process got delayed by another week,” he stressed. “At present there is a shortage of around 300 items, which is a huge number, but this shortage does not mean that the drugs are out of stock. It means the drugs available in the country are at very low quantities. To ensure continuous availability of those drugs, it is essential to maintain an uninterrupted supply. Since we don’t have a surplus of drugs in the country, especially the items that we have identified as being short in supply, making relevant purchases on time is vital,” Dr. Colombage explained. Furthermore, Dr. Colombage noted that they had received several drugs as donations from some countries and especially from Sri Lankan doctors in those countries, but he stressed that the lack of the relevant authorities to obtain clearance had hindered the process. “For some donations we need to get clearance from the authorities and when there is no proper Ministry secretary, then we can’t get clearance, which results in delays in purchasing drugs and receiving donations,” he stressed. Meanwhile, commenting on the current status, State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) Managing Director Dinusha Dassanayake stressed that drug purchases had been hampered due to the current political situation. “The employees can’t come to work and SPC vehicles are out of fuel. Also, there was no proper official to give approvals. The situation has affected the procurement process.” Commenting on the situation in the private sector, All-Island Private Pharmacy Owners’ Association (AIPPOA) Secretary Manjula Jayawardena said around 20-25% of drugs were now out of stock. According to him, paediatric antibiotics and other syrups and especially drugs used to treat hypothyroidism are mostly out of stock. Last month, in a letter written by the Private Health Services Regulatory Council, the Association of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes (APHNH) highlighted that a total of 76 essentials medicines were in short supply in the private sector, while ET tubes, suction tubes, NG tubes, urinary catheters, spinal needles, and suture material were out of stock. According to APHNH President Dr. Ananda Kuruppuarachchi, private hospitals too are in a critical situation. He said the remaining stocks at private hospitals were only enough for only around two weeks. “Once the stocks are over, the hospitals cannot be operated. Therefore, we are heading into a dangerous situation,” he stressed. Meanwhile, the Society of Government Pharmacists (SGP) said 525 kinds of medicines and 5,376 kinds of surgical supplies in the Colombo Medical Supplies Division were now in short supply. The SGP said 38.7% of medicines and 62.9% the surgical supplies were also out of stock and stressed that 50% of medicines which should have been available in the Medical Supplies Division were also now out of stock. SGP President Ajith P. Thilakaratne told The Sunday Morning that the list included six life-saving drugs, 239 essential medicines, 280 rare medicinal drugs, and 2,721 essential surgical drugs. When contacted by The Sunday Morning, Sri Lanka Chamber of Pharmaceutical industry (SLCPI) President Sajeewa Wijesekera said that the difficulty in opening LCs and the pricing issue had affected imports as many were incurring losses. With price adjustments approved only last week, the SLCPI President stressed that there had been a marginal erosion incurred by importers due to the depreciation of the rupee. However, he said that even if the prices had been adjusted, the existing difficulties in opening Letters of Credit would still have affected imports. Meanwhile, when contacted by The Sunday Morning, Commissioner General of Essential Services K.D.S. Ruwanchandra said that the pharmaceutical suppliers had informed him that there was no grave shortage in the country at present and the existing shortages were still at a manageable level.  “There had been a miscommunication between the institutions. I intervened and connected the External Resources Department (ERD) with the pharmaceutical suppliers to make it easy for them to utilise the foreign funds the country is receiving for drug purchases,” he explained.  The Sunday Morning learns that the decisions had been taken at a crucial meeting held between the Commissioner, other State officials, and the pharmaceutical importers, including the SPC.  Elaborating further, Ruwanchandra stressed that the country was expecting nearly $ 100 million within the next three months from the World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) for medicinal drug purchases.  When asked about the utilisation of the Indian Line of Credit (LOC), the Commissioner noted that discussions were currently being held between the SPC and the Indian High Commission. “We will expedite the process,” he added.