The Hon. (Dr.) Nalinda Jayatissa

¶ 01 Mr. Speaker, I will answer that question. The current shortages in hospitals are not due to a crisis that arose only in the last few months. Hon. Leader of the Opposition, as you said, there are issues in registration and procurement. In addition, there were 37 items that were not registered, some items that were registered but not tendered, and some tenders that were awarded but not delivered within the stipulated time. All of this contributed to the problem.

¶ 02 For example, the recent insulin issue arose because the party awarded the tender did not supply in the required quantities within the required time. Consequently, we had to enhance emergency procurement by around 2 million units to bridge the gap.

¶ 03 To ensure uninterrupted supply to hospitals this year, the relevant tenders should have been completed in the first few months of last year. Out of 402 items that SPC needed to tender, only about 67 had been finalized during the first five months of last year. By contrast, in our first five months we have completed tenders for 267 items and placed orders for production. Manufacturing itself takes between 60 and 90 days. Issues in registration are being addressed significantly via the NMRA, and the process is becoming orderly.

¶ 04 Hon. Leader of the Opposition, during this interim period we have had to resort to G2G (government-to-government) procurement as a temporary solution, with full transparency. Several countries have already agreed to supply items on the essential list at lower prices within stipulated timeframes. We will continue to protect transparency. Our domestic manufacturers need not fear. I also ask importers to expedite their supplies so that we will not have to continue G2G procurement longer than necessary.

¶ 05 Thank you.