Health Ministry formulates 3 ways to channel donations for urgently needed medicines

Sri Lanka is still in dire need of medicines and medical supplies and the Health Ministry has now formulated three ways in which donations can be channelled (please see graphic for details).

“Roughly we need about US$ 30-40mn per month on drugs,” said Dr Anver Hamdani, the Director Medical Technology Services of the Ministry of Health who is coordinating healthcare donor activities.

Around 85 percent of drugs and medical supplies are imported and the sector is severely affected by the dollar shortage.

While there have been pledges from the World Bank and Asian Development as well as an allocation from the Indian credit line, they are yet to be liquidated, Dr Hamdani said, adding it could take two to three weeks. There are a large number of drugs that are in the shortage, in the meantime.

The main hospitals are coping better than those in the peripheries. “We need donations for the outstations, too,” Dr Hamdanani urged. “We have only managed to bridge the gap to a certain level, say 35 to 50 percent.”

Donations of over US$ 9.9mn have already been received but there are additional pledges from Bangladesh, WHO, World Bank, ADB and China.