The Hon. (Dr.) Hansaka Wijemuni - Deputy Minister of Health and Mass Media

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, on behalf of the Minister of Health, I reply:

¶ 02 1. Due to factors such as suppliers not bidding, lack of registered suppliers, or certain suppliers failing to provide uninterrupted supply, there are shortages in two lifesaving medicines and about 50 priority-listed medicines under hospital surveillance within the supply chain. Hospitals have been authorized with financial and procurement flexibility to obtain these via local purchases.

¶ 03 2. For 2025, with Cabinet approval, orders for registered medicines from local suppliers have been placed and supplies are being received. The call for expressions of interest for 2026 local supplies was published last week.

¶ 04 3. For 2026 imported medicines, all orders were placed with the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC) before 31 January 2025—for the first time in history—through due procurement processes, and supplies are being delivered.

¶ 05 Hospitals obtain medicines through two main channels: via the Medical Supplies Division (MSD) and via hospital-level procurement for specific items. Where both are insufficient, hospitals are authorized to make regional/local purchases. The allocations for such purchases have been increased several fold: from Rs. 400,000 per purchase for the smallest hospitals up to Rs. 1,000,000 per purchase for the National Hospital, with repeat purchases allowed. Since 2023, Directors have been empowered to initiate local purchases preemptively to avoid stockouts, and this applies to inpatients, OPD and clinic patients alike.

¶ 06 4. There is no special preference for any foreign country’s manufacturers. Our framework does not allow such preferential treatment. In fact, we prioritize local manufacturers—granting preference in new registrations and, at times, paying higher prices than for imports to sustain domestic producers, with multi‑year purchase assurances.

¶ 07 5. There were significant delays in registrations by end‑2023. The NMRA has since reduced backlogs, especially for local producers. While the target response time is 300 days, some delays arise from price‑ceiling disagreements and technical issues in applications. When we assumed office, the system was heavily backlogged; the current CEO (Dr. Bodhi Semage) and the former Chair (Dr. Ananda Wijepala) made major efforts, even at personal risk, to advance it.

¶ 08 Backlogs remain particularly for import registrations, but have been notably reduced. From last August to now—within about one year—the NMRA has approved 217 new registrations for locally manufactured medicines. The NMRA provides guidance to local manufacturers from plant setup through approvals and helps identify priority molecules suitable for domestic production.

¶ 09 Thank you.