Lanka receives drugs worth over USD 1 mn from Bangladesh

Amidst continuing controversy over waste, corruption, irregularities in the health sector and high-profile CID investigation into the procurement of fake Immunoglobulin, the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government was seeking assistance from the international community to meet medical needs of the public, official sources said.

Over the past two years, several countries, including Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, France, China, Turkey, Brazil, Nepal, Thailand, Japan, US and the Vatican had extended assistance to Sri Lanka, sources said. The latest such consignment was received from Bangladesh recently.

On a request made by Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, in October this year, informed the Sri Lankan mission, in Dhaka, of its readiness to provide a stock of medicines, worth over USD 1 mn sufficient for a period of three months, the Foreign Ministry said.

A senior official said that growing corruption allegations against the Health Ministry, and the failure on the part of the Cabinet-of-Ministers to intervene, had made the government’s efforts to secure international assistance extremely difficult.

Bangladesh HC in Colombo Tareq Md Ariful Islam officially handed over the consignment of medicine to Health Minister Dr. Remesh Pathirana at the Ministry last week. (SF)