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Minister
wants drug imports slashed from 6,000 to 350 Addressing the annual general meeting of the Peoples Movement for the Rights of Patients, Professor Witharana said that by implementing the essential medicinal concept of the National Medicinal Drugs Policy, the cost of drugs could be brought down significantly and the cost of living reduced while the country itself could save billions of rupees in foreign exchange. The Minister thanked the PMRP and others for drawing up the comprehensive National Medicinal Drugs Policy and reiterated the Health Minister’s assurance that legislation for such a policy would be presented in parliament this month. The Minister said that if the NMDP was effectively implemented and if Sri Lanka followed the Cuban model of developing local industries especially for the manufacturing of drugs and bio technology, the country would be taking a major step towards restoring a patient-friendly health service. Professor Witharana former director of the Medical Research Institute said the implementation of the NMDP and the essential medicinal concept would not only reduce the cost of drugs but also improve the quality. He lamented that because of the thousands of non essentials, unnecessary and highly expensive drugs were being imported. There was no proper quality control and even the quality of the most expensive drugs was questionable. Professor Witharana said that earlier the State Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Corporation was producing more than 50 essential drugs and making them available to the people at affordable prices through State Pharmaceutical outlets. He called on the two corporations to come together again and restore that arrangement to provide quality drugs to the people at affordable prices. Professor Witharana said the budgetary allocation for research and development in science and technology was only about 0.18% of GDP – one of the lowest in Asia. He said the President and the Finance Minister has assured that the allocation would be increased to about 1% this year and his ministry would be able to do much more by way of research for the benefit of the people of Sri Lanka. The Minister came out strongly against transnational corporations, the policies of capitalist countries and international groups like the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO through which the rich world continued to plunder the people and resources of the poor Third World. He referred particularly to the WTO’s new patent laws under which the commercial interests of multi national drug companies were given priority over the interest of poor patients. Another speaker at the PMRP’s annual session held at the Public Library in Colombo was Professor Carlo Fonseka, former Dean of the Colombo Medical Faculty and one of Sri Lanka’s most eminent medical personalities. He also called for urgent steps to implement the National Medicinal Drugs Policy as a step towards restoring a patient-friendly health service. Consultant nutritionist Dr. Damyanthi Perera called for a national food policy through which the people of Sri Lanka could be educated and empowered to obtain a nutritious and balanced diet at a low cost. |
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