Ministry rubbishes cancer drug shortage reports

Nadira Gunatilleke

A Health Ministry spokesman said yesterday that there was no drug shortage at the National Cancer Institute, Maharagama.

“During the past few days, there was an effort to mislead the public through media reports about a severe drug shortage at the institute.

The Maharagama Cancer Institute director informed the Health Ministry that there is no drug shortage at the hospital,” the spokesman said.

He said media reports attempt to mislead the public through fabricated news items.

“All drugs are freely available for cancer patients visiting the institute for treatment. The government spends a large amount of funds on drugs provided for cancer patients free of charge. The price range of certain cancer drugs are between Rs 95,000 to Rs 300,000 for a single cancer patient. Sometimes the Health Ministry spends between Rs 9.5 million to Rs.10 million annually on one cancer patient’s drugs,” he said.

The ministry last year spent Rs 15 billion on special drugs provided for cancer patients.

The ministry approves over 60 files per day in connection with requests for special drugs for some cancer patients. All funds are in addition to funds allocated by the government for drugs for cancer patients and treatment annually, the spokesman said.