The Hon. Hector Appuhamy

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, thank you for the opportunity. Today we discuss the expenditure heads of the special Ministries of Health and Mass Media. I have a request, particularly regarding Puttalam Hospital. From the outset of this Parliament I requested improvements. You then said, “No, not like that; we need to plan first.” Now, I see you have moved to that plan. I also saw you stating readiness to upgrade it to a District Hospital. I commend your decision—you are a good Minister.

¶ 02 However, a Minister seated near you just said doctors go to barbers to resolve issues, insulting doctors. Do not generalize; if you make such claims, name those individuals. Patients who come here with pain and hardship do not call doctors barbers; they call politicians barbers. Understand that.

¶ 03 We all know issues in this Ministry: drug shortages, workforce issues, equipment gaps, and corruption. Begin implementing COPA/COPE recommendations. The COPE report highlights serious institutional issues in the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA): no internal audit unit established for a decade and failed attempts to do so. It also states key senior and tertiary positions remain vacant—about 120 essential officers short. How can this function? Further, under Section 14A, the Authority must collect data on quantities of medicines, devices, and products imported under licence—but this is not being done. Without data, how can shortages and procurement be managed? COPE itself says this has not been done—so is NMRA successful?

¶ 04 Minister, do not take this burden on yourself. You are widely respected. The report also flags the use of Section 14/03 provisions to call emergency tenders allowing unregistered suppliers, creating room for a medicines mafia—bred from within the system.

¶ 05 There are also concerns about smuggling routes via Kalpitiya and Mannar and whether certain groups involved in Indian pharmaceutical inflows link to these networks. When these people travel abroad, who funds their trips? Please examine this.

¶ 06 Learn from places like Gujarat, India. There, such positions are held by people with 20 years of domain knowledge and experience. Here, the leadership seems only prepared to buy drugs. You removed the previous CEO—good. But that officer is still influencing from behind the scenes with another. Address that.

¶ 07 On e-NMRA automation: about Rs. 1,200 million was spent; data were erased; CID investigations are ongoing. Epic Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd. handled it. Have inquiries concluded? Why delays?

¶ 08 In 2015, when the NMRA Act was enacted, the regulation for skin-whitening creams under the Cosmetics, Devices and Drugs framework was overlooked—now we face serious issues.

¶ 09 Regarding recent patient deaths, note that in benchmark countries like the UK and USA, registration is completed in about 300 days; here it takes over 750 days, delaying market entry. Out of 802 essential drugs, 170 are missing, including for ophthalmology, liver, and renal diseases; insulin shortages are severe. Your Chief Executive is constrained—please apply a special remedy. Encourage local manufacturers; avoid the culture of delays that discourages investors. Examine the Chair Ananda Wijewickrama and his team; while there are good officers, look closely at those obstructing progress.

¶ 10 Finally, on mass media: a social media team you nurtured spreads profanity; please stop this. I also propose following Australia’s approach on “setting a minimum age for social media.” I submit a related presentation to be placed in the Library.

¶ 11 Regulate social media use for under-16s—not a total ban, as some educational uses exist—but adopt a framework. Without it, we face grave social issues, division, and distortion of public discourse. Please act. Thank you.