Hemas Pharmaceuticals welcomes Health Ministry request to private sector

Hemas Pharmaceutical (Pvt) Ltd is the sole local representative for AstraZeneca and Pfizer in Sri Lanka. These companies are the current global leaders in producing the COVID-19 vaccine. As per the policy of the manufacturers, imports of these vaccines are restricted to respective Governments to ensure good governance.

In Sri Lanka too, the Government policy has been to register the COVID-19 vaccine under a local representative. The State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) is the only institution authorized to import the vaccines on behalf of the Government.

Further, restricting the importation only to the Government is to ensure that there is no undue profiteering by any party, as the manufacturers supply the vaccine at cost to make sure there is equitable access for all citizens, rich and poor.

“We welcome the request by the Ministry of Health to the private sector to assist and facilitate vaccine purchase from any source, despite a global shortage of supply,” Managing Director – Hemas Pharmaceuticals (Pvt) Ltd, Jude Fernando said.

“As the official agent for AstraZeneca/Pfizer in Sri Lanka, we will refer all offers other than directly from the manufacturer to the principal company for approval. Thus, we will stand by our mission to ensure importation of quality products into Sri Lanka,” he said.