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Sri Lanka
10th Parliament· 154 sittings on record · 30,475 speeches · latest 10 June 2026

Sitting of Friday, 10 October 2025

10th Parliament· 11 debates· 177 speeches· 58 speakers

Source: Hansard PDF (parliament.lk) ↗ ·No. 22640 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard

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Order of business

Speeches load per item. Summaries shown here are AI-generated and labelled; verbatim text is on each speech page.

  9. 9 Debate Private Members' Motion P.46/2025: National Drug Quality Assurance Laboratory 15 speeches
    • The Hon. Presiding Member procedural
      Full speech →
    • The Hon. (Dr.) Kavinda Heshan Jayawardhana SJB

      AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Kavinda Heshan Jayawardhana moved a resolution calling for a programme to restore and modernize the National Medicines Quality Assurance Laboratory, arguing that the 35-year-old facility is outdated, not internationally accredited, and unable to adequately test imported and locally manufactured medicines. He said the NMRA, established under Act No. 5 of 2015, has a statutory duty to ensure safe, efficacious, good-quality medicines at affordable prices, and proposed establishing a fully equipped laboratory at an estimated cost of Rs. 5 billion. He cited past incidents involving alleged substandard prednisolone, anaesthetics, and human immunoglobulin, demanded action against those responsible and recovery of losses, and urged compensation for affected patients who had not yet received it.

      Justice & Human RightsPublic FinanceHealthcare Full speech →
    • The Hon. Presiding Member procedural
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    • The Hon. Hector Appuhamy SJB

      AI summary Hon. Hector Appuhamy seconded the motion and raised concerns about persistent weaknesses in Sri Lanka’s medicines regulatory system, particularly the composition and leadership of the NMRA. He argued that the NMRA Board lacks pharmaceutical regulatory expertise, questioned the Chairman’s private practice and alleged bias towards multinational companies over local manufacturers, and noted that promised upgrades to the NMRA laboratory had not been implemented. He said he would table more than 15 questions on allegations against the Chairman and called on the Government and Health Minister to decide on his position, warning that they would bear responsibility for future failures.

      HealthcareCorruption & Governance ReformPublic Finance Full speech →
    • The Hon. Presiding Member procedural
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    • The Hon. (Dr.) Jagath Gunawardana JJB

      AI summary Dr. Jagath Gunawardana supported the Private Member’s Motion on ensuring the proper functioning of the National Medicines Quality Assurance Laboratory, outlining its role under the NMRA in testing medicines and medical devices for quality, safety and efficacy. He alleged that previous administrations weakened regulatory controls through special exemptions and irregular procurements, citing cases involving Human Immunoglobulin and Rituximab that allowed substandard medicines to enter the system. He stated that the current government has introduced reforms, including infrastructure upgrades, additional analyst posts, expanded laboratory capacity, new equipment, and more efficient pre- and post-marketing testing.

      HealthcareCorruption & Governance Reform Full speech →
    • The Hon. Presiding Member procedural
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    • The Hon. (Dr.) Jagath Gunawardana JJB

      AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Jagath Gunawardana stated that the backlog of registration dossiers has been expedited at the NMRA. He said the authority is now functioning more democratically with the aim of improving public health outcomes.

      Healthcare Full speech →
    • The Hon. Presiding Member procedural
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    • The Hon. D.V. Chanaka SLPP

      AI summary Hon. D.V. Chanaka supported the Private Members’ Motion on strengthening medicine quality assurance, stating that medicines must be safe and that the Opposition would assist the Government’s efforts. He argued that, after nearly a year in office, the Government should move beyond blaming the previous administration and address current shortages of essential drugs, IVs, surgical items and supplies in government hospitals. Citing examples including Papaverine, Metaraminol, Dextrose, Naloxone, cardiac surgery items and sutures, he said patients are being required to purchase critical materials privately, sometimes at costs around Rs. 100,000, and urged the Government to procure them through proper tenders or international channels.

      Public FinanceHealthcare Full speech →
    • The Hon. Presiding Member procedural
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    • The Hon. (Dr.) Hansaka Wijemuni - Deputy Minister of Health JJB

      AI summary Deputy Minister Hansaka Wijemuni said the Government supports strengthening the NMRA laboratory and is already implementing measures to improve testing capacity, including doubling tests and staff in the past year and pursuing ISO 17025 international accreditation. He stated that local pharmaceutical production would be encouraged only under proper standards, while imports and batch releases are subject to pre-shipment, warehouse, post-distribution and complaint-based sampling through NMRA and other recognized laboratories. Responding to concerns about shortages and procurement, he said major hospital supplies, including antibiotics and cardiac surgery needs, were available, while some smaller items are procured at institutional level rather than through national bulk procurement.

      Public FinanceHealthcare Full speech →
    • The Hon. Presiding Member procedural
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    • The Hon. (Dr.) Kavinda Heshan Jayawardhana SJB

      AI summary Hon. (Dr.) Kavinda Heshan Jayawardhana called for Sri Lanka to establish a WHO-recognized national quality control laboratory capable of API and GMP verification, noting that random testing of medicines and responses to adverse events currently require costly overseas testing and cause delays. He placed WHO and Indian laboratory reference documents in the Library to support the proposal. He also raised reported shortages of insulin needles and glucose strips, equipment failures at the National Hospital including angiography and MRI issues, interruptions to biochemistry testing, and requested clarification on the alleged renaming of “1990 Suwaseriya” as the “National Emergency Ambulance Service.”

      Public FinanceInfrastructureHealthcare Full speech →
    • The Hon. (Dr.) Hansaka Wijemuni - Deputy Minister of Health JJB

      AI summary The Deputy Minister of Health stated that some MRI scanners and angiography systems are malfunctioning because they have exceeded their typical 15–20-year service life. He said the Ministry is repairing equipment where possible and has begun procurement to replace obsolete units.

      Healthcare Full speech →