News

FSP warns brain drain will cripple healthcare even in urban centres

Published

3 years ago

2023/05/6

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Hospitals in Sri Lanka’s urban centres, too, will struggle to deliver healthcare as a large number of healthcare workers, from doctors to nurses, are leaving the country, says Education Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) Pubudu Jayagoda.

Addressing the media, in Colombo, Jagoda said the dramatic increase in the PAYE tax, the drug and medical equipment shortages at hospitals, the general instability of the country, as well as the belief that there is no future in Sri Lanka, had contributed to the situation. “During the past few weeks, we have heard of disruptions to major hospitals in the country’s periphery. Soon, even the hospitals in our urban centres will be affected,” he said.

Jayagoda said that many hospitals ask patients, who have to undergo surgery, to purchase certain requirements from the private sector. These items, in general, cost about 15,000 to 20,000 rupees, he added.

“In the case of the Maharagama Apeksha Cancer Hospital, a lot of people are just expecting death because of medical shortages. Even at this juncture, the Minister of Health, Keheliya Rambukwella, and senior health officials, only care about making money. People are dying but they don’t care,” he alleged.

Jayagoda said that Sri Lanka imported an eyedrop called Prednisolone from an Indian company in Gujarat. It has been found that the eyedrop is causing allergies and side effects on many patients, he said.

“One patient has gone blind because of this eye drop. Now authorities have asked all hospitals not to use this drug. The letter has been sent to hospitals, on 02 May, but people started reporting complications from early April. It is obvious that there was no quality check when we started using this drug,” he said.

Jayagoda went on to say that Health Ministry laboratories had found that the eyedrop contained several germs. The laboratories had sent reports with proof that the drug is contaminated, on 10 April. However, until 02 May, the Health Ministry had not asked hospitals to stop using it, he said.

“Luckily, most doctors saw the side effects and stopped using the drug from the second week of April,” he said.

Sri Lankans are now facing three main issues with regards to medicine, Jayagoda said. One is the shortage of drugs and medical equipment.

“Second is that there are a lot of issues with the drugs available. There are many substandard drugs in the market and the government hospitals. The government tried to buy medicine from companies that are not registered with the NMRA. There were attempts to buy medicine from companies that were blacklisted by the NMRA. The third is the price of drugs,” he said.

The FSP Education Secretary added that despite the crisis, the Health Ministry is trying to embezzle money during medical purchases.

“The Ministry has called for a tender to purchase 2.5 million vials of Cefuroxime Sodium. This is a widely used antibiotic, and government hospitals need about 160,000 of these vials a month. All healthcare professional know that antibiotics must be of the highest quality because if a patient develops antibiotic resistance, he or she can even die. Six companies have applied for the above tender. The lowest bid was by a company that offered 19 cents U.S. dollars a vial. The second lowest bid was for 24 cents. But the tender is to be awarded to a company whose bid was 85 cents. We will spend 1.6 million U.S. dollars more if we buy from this company,” he said.

At a time when Sri Lanka is facing serious foreign exchange shortages, the Health Officials are draining our coffers, he said.

“Usually, a letter of credit is issued to the drug manufacturer. And it’s the drug manufacturer who is the bidder for the tender. There may be a local agent, but the bidder is the manufacturer. However, the company who bid 85 cents U.S dollars for the above-mentioned bid is not a drug manufacturer. This is a middleman who will buy from India and sell us the vials. So, this company will buy drugs from India for about 20 cents a vial and sell it to Sri Lanka keeping a margin of 65 cents U.S dollars. Who will take this cut? From what we know, this company is owned by a Sri Lankan,” he said.

All News Advertisement

Latest News

Foreign warships commended for their assistance during weather disaster in Sri Lanka

Published

8 hours ago

2026/01/1

Priyan

Highlighting the spirit of global and regional cooperation, the Sri Lanka Navy acknowledged the invaluable support by foreign warships, which had arrived to take part in the International Fleet Review (IFR) 2025, extending much-needed Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations, during the recent weather disaster in Sri Lanka.

The IFR 2025 was held off the Galle Face seas, marking the milestone 75^th anniversary celebrations of the Sri Lanka Navy.

Representing the Government of Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya graced the event and received the traditional naval salute from onboard SLNS Gajabahu, as the participating foreign warships paid their honours.

Eight (08) foreign naval warships arrived in Sri Lanka by 27 November to take part in the IFR under the theme “Sailing Strong – Together”. The participating warships included the Bangladesh Navy’s BNS PROTTOY, the Indian Navy’s aircraft carrier INS VIKRANT and INS UDAYGIRI, Iran Navy’s IRIS NAGHDI, the Maldivian Coast Guard’s CGS HURAVEE, the Royal Malaysian Navy’s KD TERENGGANU, Pakistan Navy’s PNS SAIF and Russian Navy’s GREMYASCHCHY.

Due to the disaster-situation triggered by severe weather conditions across the island, foreign warships that arrived for the event were promptly redirected to support humanitarian efforts. Particularly, helicopters deployed from the Indian Navy’s aircraft carrier INS VIKRANT and Pakistan Navy’s PNS SAIF played a praiseworthy role in search and rescue missions for affected communities.

Accordingly, the warships representing each nation joined the IFR, honouring proud maritime traditions and in acknowledgement of Sri Lanka and its Navy. Their participation also reinforced collective cooperation and partnership needed to address non-traditional maritime threats in the region, as well as natural disasters driven by climate change.

The Prime Minister expressed gratitude to a group of diplomatic officials, present on this occasion, for their support in the disaster relief operations. The officials, who were present on the occasion, represented the High Commissions and Embassies of Bangladesh, India, Iran, Maldives, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Russia in Sri Lanka.

Latest News

I invite you to step into 2026 with renewed energy, hope, and determination – PM

Published

11 hours ago

2026/01/1

Priyan

Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya in her New Year message invited all Sri Lankans to step into 2026 with renewed energy, hope, and determination.

The PM’s New Year message:

“As we move forward to the New Year of 2026, it is timely to reflect on the year 2025 that has passed. The year 2025 can be granted as a year having made a number of decisive and progressive steps with a people oriented government.

I am confident that, within a new political culture, we were able to strengthen transparency in state governance and lay the foundation for an efficient and corruption free public service.

We can be satisfied with the progress achieved in several key areas during 2025, including economic stability, the increasingly positive and optimistic international perception towards our country, the establishment of transparent systems of governance, and the strengthening of the sovereignty of the legislation system.

However, the unfortunate disastrous situation we experienced towards the end of 2025 was a challenging period for our nation. While it deeply moved us all, the spirit of solidarity, compassion, and collectivity shown by Sri Lankans during that difficult situation received admiration across the world.

As we step into the New Year 2026, we hold commitment to overcoming those challenges, healing from the disaster, and restoring the lives and livelihoods that were affected.

Moving forward with the goals such as initiating qualitative and sustainable transformation in the education sector, digitalizing all sectors of the public service, creating an enabling environment for entrepreneurs, artists, and creators with innovative ideas to rise on the global stage, and building a compassionate, environmentally friendly society free from drugs and harmful substances I would like to remind, at this moment, that the responsibility of rebuilding this nation rests upon the entire nation, together with the government, transcending differences of ethnicity, religion, or political affiliation, and united by a strong Sri Lankan identity.

Transforming all the challenges we experienced in the past year into sources of strength, I invite you to step into 2026 with renewed energy, hope, and determination.

I extend wishes for a victorious New Year filled with peace, happiness, and prosperity.”

News

National Audit Office reveals NHSL lapses

Published

13 hours ago

2026/01/1

Thilina Walpola

Reagent scandal:

Deputy Director of the National Hospital, Dr. Rukshan Bellana, has been interdicted by Health Service Committee (HSC) of the Public Service Commission (PSC) following a preliminary inquiry into several complaints received against him, government sources said.

They said certain matters referred by the Secretary to the Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Priyantha Weerasooriya, too, had been taken into consideration.

A Health Ministry official said there was no truth in Dr. Bellana’s claim, as reported in the 30th December edition of The Island, that the Health Ministry had sacked him on the approval of the HSC of the PSC over him taking up the massive Rs 900 mn fraud involving the supply of chemical reagents to the laboratory of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL) in Colombo, which is the premier hospital in the country.

Sources said that there was absolutely no basis for this allegation. The official said that Dr. Bellana had been interdicted for issuing statements that caused controversy and turmoil among the public. That’s the most serious offence that had been taken into consideration when the decision to interdict him was taken, sources said. “There will be a spate of charges in the charge sheet to be issued soon.”

The interdiction of medical officers could not be carried out by the Ministry of Health and Mass Media, as the Ministry was not vested with disciplinary authority, sources added.

Dr. Bellana said he stood by what he revealed and had evidence to support his claim.

Health Ministry sources acknowledged that the National Audit Office (NAO) on June 6, 2025, had called for information in respect of chemical reagents procured by the National Hospital Colombo NHSL laboratory from 2022 to 2024.

Responding to another query, sources said that a separate investigation by the Internal Audit of the Ministry of Health was on into issues raised by the Audit query pertaining to the lab of the NHSL.

Having pointed out that the government paid Rs. 894,186,168 (2022), Rs. 713,652,615 (2023) and Rs. 936,152,767, totalling Rs 2,543,991,550 for chemical reagents during that period, NAO sought an explanation from the Health Ministry as to how Rs 12,894,697 worth of chemical reagents past expiry dates were found in six laboratories at NHSL during examination carried out on April 7,8,10,21 and 22 in 2025.

The NAO also raised the failure on the part of the relevant authorities to secure the approval of the Medical Supplies Division (MSD) before placing orders with local suppliers for chemical reagents.

The Health Ministry was questioned over the absence of proper stock keeping regarding Rs 2544 mn worth chemical reagents issued to NHSL laboratories. The NAO ascertained that Financial Regulations 751 had been violated. As a result of the absence of credible stock keeping, the NAO hadn’t been able to ascertain whether shelf-life expired chemical reagents were misused, the government authority stated.

The NAO asked for an explanation regarding the payment of Rs 912,838 over the required amount to a local private supplier (NAO named the supplier) for chemical reagents obtained.

In one of the most serious observations, NAO pointed out that shelf-life expired chemical reagents had been used for tests. The NAO raised this while pointing out the Health Ministry violated a key prerequisite in the procurement of chemical reagents that their shelf life should be at least 85% at the time of receiving consignments. Instead, all stocks procured had less than six months shelf life, NAO stated.

NAO declared that some suppliers refrained from mentioning the date of manufacture and the time of expiry.

The above mentioned were some of the issues that had been raised by Audit Superintendent Y.M. Sugathadasa on behalf of the Auditor General who is the head of the NAO. The post of AG remains vacant since December 8, 2025. Earlier incumbent W.P.C. Wickremeratne retired on April 8, 2025 after having served as AG for several years. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the Constitutional Council haven’t been able to reach consensus on a permanent appointment yet.

By Shamindra Ferdinando ✍️