Middle East crisis hits health sector; pharmaceutical prices set to rise

Colombo, June 15 (Daily Mirror) - The prices of pharmaceuticals supplied by local manufacturers under buy back agreements with the Health Ministry are slated to increase by 12.5 percent from next month, an official said yesterday.

Local manufacturers including the State Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Corporation account for nearly 30 percent of the Health Ministry requirement.

The official said that manufacturers had asked for a 15 percent hike citing the reasons such as increased cost of imported ingredients for production triggered by the Middle East crisis.

"We cannot agree for a 15 percent increase. We can settle for 12.5 percent," he said.