Health Ministry not responsible for drug shortages – Dr. Bellana

By Hemantha Randunu

The Ministry of Finance, Treasury and Sri Lanka Customs were responsible for the current shortage of medicine Dr. Rukshan Bellana, President of the Government Medical Officers’ Forum (GMOF) said.

The Ministry of Finance and the Customs were responsible for facilitating letters of credit to import medicines, inform the banks that priority must be given to medical imports and ensuring that drugs and equipment are released from ports and airports.

“These two organisations have not carried out their duties. Some doctors living in Australia recently donated cancer drugs worth a million dollars. These drugs were held at the Customs for a month. The National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) have approved the import of these drugs. The Customs should have released the drugs without delay. Lives of people are in danger because of this bureaucracy,” he said.

Dr. Bellana, who is also the Deputy Director of Colombo South Teaching Hospital (CSTH) said that the Ministry of Health is not responsible for importing drugs. Ministry of Finance, Treasury and Sri Lanka Customs are in charge of this, he said.