Health unions expose procurement of substandard oral rehydration solution

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Health Sector unions have informed Minister of Health Dr. Ramesh Pathirana that the Medical Supplies Division of his Ministry procured a stock of potentially substandard oral rehydration solution, Jeevani, last month,

President of the Joint Council of Professions Supplementary to Medicine, Ravi Kumudesh told The Island, that the stock of oral rehydration solution had already been distributed among government hospitals.

“The official supplier for Jeevani is the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC). However, the above-mentioned batch was produced at a factory that has not obtained a good manufacturing practices certificate for nine years,” he said.

Kumudesh said that Sri Lankan hospitals were flooded with substandard medicines. In such a context, official supplier SPC’s failure to maintain quality standards was a serious issue, he said.

About 12 million packets of Jeevani had been distributed among state hospitals, he said.

“A Health Ministry official on 29 December 2023 asked the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) to procure this batch of Jeevani using a Waivers of Registration (WOR) clause. Why does a locally manufactured good need a WOR? We think they were trying to cover up the absence of a good manufacturing practices certificate through a WOR. As we know, WORs have been used the recent past to bring in substandard drugs,” he said.

Kumudesh said that the stock of Jeevani should be tested and steps taken to find out why the SPC factory has not received the good manufacturing practices certificate.

Health Minister Dr. Pathirana was not immediately available for comment.