The Hon. Sajith Premadasa

Samagi Jana Balawegaya· Colombo· 25 July 2025 ·Oral question: Standing Order 27(2): Renewal of Pharmacy Licences and Training of Pharmacists

Healthcare

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Hon. Sajith Premadasa raised concerns about pharmacist shortages affecting pharmacy operations and called for interim measures to protect consumer safety while maintaining service continuity. He requested data on registered pharmacists, shortages, pharmacy ownership, annual graduates, degree-qualified pharmacists, and pass rates for the external pharmacist examination. He also asked whether the Government plans to change or abolish external pharmacist training and examinations, how private sector needs would be met, and how many pharmacy licence renewals the NMRA rejected in 2025 and for what reasons.

Verbatim record (translated)

Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English

¶ 01 I must clearly state this to avoid misinterpretation. Pharmacists are indeed essential for pharmacy operation, but amidst shortages there must be an interim solution that safeguards consumer safety while ensuring pharmacy continuity. Based on that, I ask:

¶ 02 1. What is the number of registered modern pharmacists in Sri Lanka, and the current shortfall?

¶ 03 2. Can a comprehensive report of all pharmacy owners in the country be presented to this House?

¶ 04 3. How many pharmacists graduate annually via the university system? How many degree-holder pharmacists are currently available? Of those sitting the external pharmacist examination, how many qualify annually?

¶ 05 4. What plans has the Government to strengthen training of modern pharmacists? Is the Government changing the existing method of training external pharmacists? If so, why?

¶ 06 5. Is the Government planning to abolish the external pharmacist examination? If so, how will the Government meet private sector pharmacist needs?

¶ 07 6. How many pharmacy licence renewals has the NMRA rejected in 2025, and for what reasons?

Provenance

Source: Hansard, Friday, 25 July 2025 ·No. 1754382585021621 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Sajith Premadasa. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 25 July 2025. No. 1754382585021621. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/11130