Rupee depreciation causes massive drug, medical equipment shortage

• Donors have emphasized that they have no confidence in the government and health ministry mechanisms 
• Mainline medicine manufacturing companies and importers, have stopped supplying medicine to pharmacies
• More than a 25% shortage of essential medicinal drugs and equipment in the country due to the devaluation  of the rupee 
• From having the best availability rates of essential drugs in the region, Sri Lanka is now experiencing critical drug shortages

For months, various stakeholders of the country’s health sector, including doctors, pharmacists, pharmaceutical companies, importers, and many other officials warned of dire circumstances looming over Sri Lanka. Their predictions of a massive drug and medical equipment shortage at hospitals fell on deaf ears as the government repeatedly denied shortages, highlighting that the several problems reported from Hospitals were in fact a result of distribution and management issues.   

However, it has been no secret that following the crippling fuel shortage in Sri Lanka, a severe essential drug shortage has now taken hold of our island nation. With the depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar, the country’s economy was directly affected in most areas of the country. One of the worst affected by this phenomenon, was the health sector.   
Earlier, the All-Island Private Pharmacy Owners’ Association (ACPPOA), the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) and several other organizations related to the health sector revealed that there would be a possibility of incurring a shortage of drugs and medical equipment, crippling the country’s fragile health sector.  

The ACPPOA claimed that as a result of the huge depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar, the mainline medicine manufacturing companies and importers have stopped supplying medicine to pharmacies. Most of the medicine varieties and ingredients were imported on credit. Therefore, the manufacturers or importers will incur a huge loss when selling these items in the local market at a low cost.  

They said that there is more than a 25% shortage of essential medicinal drugs and equipment in the country due to the devaluation of the rupee against the US dollar and it will turn into a massive life-threatening event, even larger than the loss of lives due to the Tsunami and the recent COVID-19 pandemic.  
Most of the popular drugs, such as Paracetamol, Panadol, Panadein, Frisium, normal saline, and Zinnat, are found to be in short supply. Also, there is a shortage of antibiotic syrups given to children in the country.  

Due to frequent power cuts, the ACPPOA said, pharmacies confront an issue with keeping certain types of medicines, such as insulin vials, certain types of vaccines, eye-drops, and suppositories, at the appropriate low temperature ranges.  
They said all other medical varieties should be kept below 25 degrees Celsius to preserve their strength.  

Even though several pharmacies have their own generators, they are unable to get sufficient fuel to operate them, the ACPPOA said.  
Moreover, insulin vials, certain types of vaccines, eye-drops, and suppositories should be kept between 2 and 8 Celsius, they said.  
The GMOA pointed out that currently there is a shortage of 237 essential medicines in hospitals, mainly given to patients suffering from coronary artery disease (CAD), cancer, diabetics, and even patients with mild infectious diseases like fever, cough, and cold.  
Meanwhile, the GMOA requested the government to implement a transparent mechanism to import medicine and medical equipment as the donors have no trust in the government or the Health Ministry.  

Therefore, the GMOA has appointed a committee to coordinate the assistance from national and international donors.   
More than 1,000 donors have declared their willingness to help the country’s health system in this difficult situation. Moreover, the donors have emphasized that they have no confidence in the government and health ministry mechanisms and highly appreciated the coordination responsibility taken by GMOA.   
Meanwhile, it was reported that all pediatricians and neonatologists in the country are in a dilemma due to the absence of endotracheal (ETT) tubes for ventilation of new-born babies, infants, and children.  

Sources said very soon all hospitals will run out of all their stocks of ETTs, and hospitals have arrived at a stage where they are compelled to re-use endotracheal tubes for ventilating new born babies, which is totally unacceptable.  
Due to the economic and political crisis in the country, medical supplies have run out in the hospital network. Therefore, doctors in hospitals are forced to change their norms of using re-usable ventilator circuits in the country.  
The Health Services Director General, Dr. Asela Gunawardena, recently appointed an official coordinator to maintain uninterrupted healthcare services and facilitate medicinal and equipment donations to Sri Lanka.  

Accordingly, Director Medical Technology Services at the Health Ministry, Dr. Anver Hamdani, has been appointed as the coordinating officer on behalf of the Ministry of Health to coordinate, facilitate and liaise with relevant stakeholders.  
Meanwhile, the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) said pharmaceutical drug importers have been permitted to increase the prices of drugs by 20%. They claimed that this price increase would not be applicable to the drugs whose prices had already been increased earlier.