Short shrift for Sili Sili bags at pharmacies

Nadira Gunatilleke

There are 6,000 private pharmacies in Sri Lanka and they add 25 million Sili Sili bags to the environment every year. One such bag takes 15 years to decay. Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva requested private pharmacy owners to use paper bags as much as possible to issue drugs to patients, a Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry spokesman said.

He said Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva met all private pharmacy owners of the Colombo district and held a special discussion in connection with the issue and several other issues.

The Minister requested them to use paper bags until the ministry finds a permanent solution to the problem with the coordination of the Environmental Ministry.

According to the spokesman, Minister de Silva will meet private pharmacy owners of all the other districts soon. The ministry found the problem after studies and raids conducted by the National Drug Authority. The raids continue all over the country. The authority filed cases against more than 40 private pharmacies which violated the National Drug and Cosmetics Control Act Number 28 of 1980.

During raids, the authority had discovered that many private pharmacies are not suitable at all to operate in the market and sell drugs to the public. They had outdated drugs and banned drugs withdrawn from the Sri Lankan market long time ago.