The Hon. Harshana Rajakaruna

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, while these NMRA regulations are presented, we learn that litigation has been filed by the Pharmaceutical Importers’ Association. Enacting regulations amidst ongoing cases can create complications.

¶ 02 Price control must balance fairness to importers and protection for consumers. The Government claims these regulations benefit consumers, but reliance on CIF-based pricing is not satisfactory. The WHO Guideline on Country Pharmaceutical Pricing Policies states: “Countries generally should not use cost-plus as an overall pharmaceutical pricing policy,” and advises replacing or complementing cost-plus with other policies. The Institute for Health Policy (IHP) also cautioned against this approach. In 2015, during Minister Rajitha Senaratne’s tenure and Prof. Asita de Silva’s chairmanship of the NMRA, the IHP’s Executive Director praised the use of IMS data in pricing. Another WHO submission by Dr. Shilpa Modi Pandav on Sri Lanka’s pharmaceutical price control similarly observed that cost-plus on CIF with fixed markups is not suitable for Sri Lanka.

¶ 03 On the 1990 Suwaseriya ambulance service, while the Health Minister says no change is intended, a Deputy Minister spoke of changing colour and number. The 1990 service, enabled with Indian support, is vital and should be strengthened, not politicized or dismantled. We must improve and expand it.

¶ 04 Thank you.