The Hon. Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition
Sajith Premadasa raised concerns about delays in procuring a pancreatic enzyme medicine needed by children with chronic lung disease, food malabsorption and cystic fibrosis. He said the drug is not produced by the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation, private procurement costs about Rs. 178,000, and around 35 children have been unable to obtain it. He urged expedited procurement of quality medicines and asked that the reasons for the Corporation’s non-production of the drug be examined.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question raised on autism and the ongoing programmes. I wish to raise a very sensitive case. A child suffering from chronic lung disease has pancreatic enzyme deficiency due to food malabsorption and requires enzymes. The State Pharmaceuticals Corporation does not produce this medicine. The parents have tried to procure it at a cost of Rs. 178,000 through a private pharmaceutical entity. Despite their effort, some 35 children have not been able to obtain this medicine. The main reason appears to be delays in tender procedures. There are also 35 children with cystic fibrosis. I urge you to expedite the procurement of high-quality medicines for these children and to examine why the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation does not produce this drug.
Provenance
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- Hansard, Thursday, 8 January 2026 ·No. 23118 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 8 January 2026. No. 23118. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/4846