Investors invited to manufacture drugs locally

Nadira GUNATILLEKE

Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena invites local investors to start drug manufacturing factories in Sri Lanka. The government has already taken steps to facilitate local drug manufacturers in every possible way, a Health Ministry spokesman said. According to the spokesman, the Cabinet Ministers’ Sub Committee appointed to look into the issue of drugs had recommended that drugs required for Sri Lanka should be locally produced to avoid drug shortages.

An industrial city has already been set up at Kurunegala to produce Western drugs locally to meet the country’s drug requirement. A total of 1,450 varieties of Western drugs are required to meet local demand and only 93 varieties of them are locally produced.

The rest are imported by the government and private sector at a cost of Rs. 28 billion. Annually the government spends Rs. 21 billion and the private sector spends Rs. seven billion to import drugs, he said. But drug shortages are reported from various state medical institutions time to time due to shortcomings caused by private companies which obtain tenders to supply drugs. Those companies hardly supply drugs on time in required quantities. This leads to drug shortages in state hospitals. Local drug production also promotes local investors, he added.