Supplying low quality drugs:

Minister orders to blacklist errant companies

Nadira GUNATILLEKE

Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena has ordered the health officials to blacklist all foreign companies who supply low-quality drugs to Sri Lanka, a Health Ministry spokesman said.

The Spokesman said Minister Sirisena issued this order after considering the hardships undergone by patients and the Government due to ignorant behaviour of some foreign companies which obtain tenders and supply drugs to Sri Lanka.

There is a shortage of certain drugs in some state hospitals at the moment because of the misconduct of these companies.

The foreign companies which obtain tenders do not supply relevant drugs on time and even when they supply drugs they face quality failures because of the low quality detected by the National Drug Quality Assurance Laboratory (NDQAL).

These facts lead to unavoidable drug shortages and the Ministry spends a large amount on local drug purchasing. Both patients and the Government face numerous hardships due to these drug shortages, he said. The Government has allocated Rs 15 billion for drugs in 2011.

The Health Ministry calls around 25,000 tenders annually to purchase drugs. But the suppliers do not supply drugs on time, especially when such drugs face quality failures. Sometimes it takes more than a year to bring back the same drug.