Producing our medicinal drugs

Sri Lanka spends a monumental sum of money on drug imports and it stands to reason that swift action must be taken to launch an independent and self-sustaining indigenous medicinal drugs manufacturing base. Recently, this need was voiced by Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena and what he had to say in this connection was more than an eye-opener. It was a stunning disclosure of how limited our thinking has been on matters medical.

For instance, the Minister disclosed that some 1,450 varieties of drugs are required by us, but only 93 of these are produced locally. The rest of our drug requirements are imported and this bill stands at a staggering Rs. 28 billion annually.

The state spends Rs. 21 billion of this amount, while the private sector imports drugs to the tune of Rupees seven billion. It is needless to point out the gains to the country from a policy of producing our medicines by ourselves, considering these unsettling statistics.

However, we would not only be gaining financially by producing our total drug requirements. We would be also getting over problems, such as, drug shortages, non-availability of medicines and the off and on supply of substandard drugs, besides a plethora of other problems which have been plaguing our healthcare system. Hopefully, an Industrial City which is taking shape in Kurunegala, aimed at manufacturing many of the drugs we usually import, would fulfill our needs effectively.

Ideally, the state should meet the healthcare needs of the public entirely by itself. There was a time when Sri Lanka took unalloyed pride in the fact that the state was providing the essential needs of the public free of charge, in the health sphere.

This is still largely true, but it cannot be argued that the total needs of a patient are met by the state alone. Besides, the state is not the sole importer of medicinal drugs, nor is it the sole seller of drugs. The Osusala is meeting many of our needs in a big way and this should be appreciated but many of the current issues pertaining to the prescription and sale of drugs could be avoided if the state took to producing all our medicinal needs or had the drugs manufactured locally under its supervision.

It is our belief that in all healthcare matters, the country needs to be guided by the Prof. Senaka BIbile vision and policy. If the state produced the bulk of our drug requirements, the Bibile principles could very well be implemented. Today, drug importers and traders are so numerous that the state lacks total control over the meeting of the public's medicinal requirements. Drugs have to be sold among the people, ideally, under their generic names, but this rule is observed more in the breach, for instance.

As a result of a considerable number of private doctors, in particular, prescribing a patient's drugs under their brand names and not their generic ones, treating oneself medically is no longer a purse-easy matter. For the majority of patients, healthcare is a scary issue on account of the high price of drugs and this problem has some its roots in the doctors' general tendency to abide by brand names rather than the generic names of drugs. Some of these abuses could be contained if Sri Lanka possesses an indigenous drug manufacturing capability.

Therefore, local investors need to consider very seriously the state's proposal of joining in the effort of generating and sustaining a local drug industry which would be least dependent on external inputs. Drug manufacturing could prove a worthwhile proposition, considering this country's general health requirements and we hope deliberations would soon be launched among the relevant parties to further these ends.

Healthcare is one public sphere where the 'free market' cannot be allowed to operate too freely. For, what is at stake is human life. If the prices of medicines are allowed to be determined entirely by what are called market forces, the chances are that human needs would not be met because the acquiring of drugs by the vast majority of patients is dependent on the latter's purchasing power, which is in most cases low.

Therefore, Sri Lanka needs to be self-sufficient in drugs.

Through this capability, not only will the people's needs be met by the state, there would be no 'drug shortages', substandard drugs and the like, because the state would be in almost total control over the drug manufacturing set-up. However, it has to ensure that it is always in the 'driving seat' in these matters.