The Hon. (Dr.) Nihal Abeysinghe

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, we debate today the need to approve Regulations presented by the Ministry of Health for medicine price control. The legal basis was explained by the Minister. This affects everyone, especially those with chronic conditions like cancer, thalassemia, and kidney disease who require long-term medication, as well as emergency patients, persons with disabilities, health workers, suppliers, pharmacists, manufacturers, institutional staff, and distributors. It also impacts the State and economy.

¶ 02 Our policy states we must provide safe medicines and devices at fair prices. The formula allows fair, transparent margins for suppliers, distributors, and pharmacists, supports efficient institutional services, and ensures timely availability—ultimately contributing to a healthier, more productive population.

¶ 03 Why do we need a pricing formula? About 85% of allopathic medicines, devices, and materials are imported; roughly 65% of public-hospital medicines are imported; about 35% are locally made. In the private sector, about 95% are imported—around 50% from India, 16% from the USA, with smaller shares from Pakistan, Bangladesh, France, Indonesia, China, UK, Germany, Malaysia, etc.

¶ 04 Accordingly, CIF costs (freight, insurance, logistics), tariffs/levies, and supply chain costs must be considered in price setting. Without control, suppliers could set arbitrary prices and pharmacies would follow; unlike purchasing onions or rice, patients cannot judge pharmaceutical quality and must accept what is dispensed. Hence the historic establishment of SPMC and SPC under Prof. Senaka Bibile and Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe.

¶ 05 Local manufacture is key to resilience, but inputs still require foreign exchange and robust lab capacity to assure quality. We must expand laboratory capabilities to uphold standards as local production grows beyond the current ~15% towards 35–40%.

¶ 06 Public awareness of rational use is also limited. While many doctors prescribe by generic, some still use brands tied to incentives. Unregulated markets burden patients with high prices and catastrophic out-of-pocket (OOP) spending. WHO defines catastrophic health expenditure when, after food, over 40% of remaining household resources are spent on health—or when total spending exceeds 10% of total household expenditure—driving families into poverty. This especially harms those relying on public clinics who must buy medicines privately when out of stock.

¶ 07 Other countries use similar systems: India’s NPPA, Bangladesh’s DGDA, Indonesia’s price caps, Vietnam’s cost/declaration-based caps. This is not unique.

¶ 08 Crucially, ongoing monitoring is needed to keep prices aligned. We trust these Regulations will help ensure fair-priced, quality, safe medicines. Thank you.