The Hon. Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition
Sajith Premadasa said his concern was not to justify pharmacies operating without pharmacists, but to highlight the lack of adequate training programmes since the 2015 Act raised standards. He accepted that pharmacies must meet qualification requirements and called for an immediate accelerated programme to train pharmacists and dispensers, citing shortages affecting about 66 pharmacies and the wider health sector, in order to protect patients’ rights and lives.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Minister, my question was not to justify pharmacies without pharmacists. Since the 2015 Act raised standards, there has been no robust programme to train sufficient pharmacists and dispensers for about 66 pharmacies and the wider health sector. That gap has created the present issue. We fully accept that pharmacies must operate with qualified pharmacists and meet standards. We request the immediate implementation of an accelerated training programme to address the pharmacist shortfall so pharmacies can function and patients’ rights and lives are protected.
Provenance
- Source
- Hansard, Friday, 25 July 2025 ·No. 1754382585021621 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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/lk/speeches/11136
Cite as: The Hon. Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 25 July 2025. No. 1754382585021621. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/11136