CHATURANGA PRADEEP SAMARAWICKRAMA 
Reply To:
Name - Reply Comment
Shortage of medicine restored, curruption at SPC remains: Dr. Bellana
Colombo, August 26 (Daily Mirror) - Drastic changes have taken place in the health sector after appointing Dr. Maheepala Herath as Health Secretary and the number of patients receiving hospital care has increased, Government Medical Officers' Forum (GMOF) president, Dr. Rukshan Bellana claimed.
He told the Daily Mirror that with his appointment, the existing medical shortage has been restored to some extent, and the quality of the medicine received at government hospitals has increased.
He claimed that the majority of the trade unionists had claimed two years before that the number of deaths due to lack of medicines would increase and bodies would pile up in hospitals. This situation existed before two years. Fraud and corruption have increased in relation to medicines, and the medicine received at that time was of low quality, he said.
Now people have confidence and with the medicines issued from government hospitals, the number of people receiving medicines from hospitals has increased.
"Unfortunately, the efficiency of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) is low. If there is even a slight shortage of medicines, it is because of the inefficiency of the NMRA. Still, high levels of corruption exists in the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation of Sri Lanka (SPC)," Dr. Bellana claimed.
He also claimed that some of the SPC staff members used to stand up from the place where they work when certain local agents of suppliers visited the premises, and that it was a pathatic situation.
However, after appointing Dr. Maheepala Herath as the secretary, the hospitals receive quality medicine, but corruption at the SPC has not been solved and is still continuing smoothly, he said.
Comments - 15
Recommended
You May Also Like
