19 November 2022 12:42 pm
Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said steps will be taken to get around 130 types of medicines that are currently in short supply.
He also said it is expected to get those medicines which would be sufficient for three months.
"There is a shortage of the most essential 14 life saving drugs that we have identified. If those drugs are in short supply, people would lose their lives. "We have discussed this with the medical experts and decided to import them," he said.
There is an existing stock of the said life saving drugs, which is sufficient for two or three months, but not for a year. That is the truth. he said.
Some 384 types drugs have been mentioned as essential. However, 130 essential drugs are in short supply. The shortage is in the stores, but you can find those medicines in hospitals.
However, the health ministry is in the process of importing the the stocks of essential medicines which are in short supply within the next two or three weeks, which will be sufficient for another maximum of four months, he said.
The minister added that if the necessary steps had been taken two years ago, there wouldn't have been shortage of medicines in the country. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)