Drug shortages in State hospitals: Creation by interested parties?

In a letter addressed to the Health Minister, Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, the Association of Medical Specialists (AMS) pointed out that medical staff are increasingly being forced to request patients to obtain medicines, consumables, and laboratory investigations from external sources, an act that, in the absence of official guidance, has subjected them to public criticism and professional risk.

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The AMS questioned whether it is permissible for doctors to issue prescriptions for medical items not available in hospital pharmacies and whether they are allowed to direct patients to specific suppliers particularly when items are only available through a limited number of vendors and time-sensitive care is needed, such as in cardiology, orthopaedics, or trauma surgery (https://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking-news/Drug-shortage-puts-medical-professionals-in-quandary/108-312277)

NO doubt there are, and will be, diverse opinions expressed by many about drug shortages in Sri Lanka. The writer too expressed his views as noted in the following articles in December 2022 and again in January 2025.

■Drug shortages and impact on health outcomes: Is it only the tip of the iceberg? - https://www.ft.lk/columns/Drug-shortages-and-impact-on-health-outcomes--Is-it-only-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-/4-743137

■Drug shortages: Most serious symptom arising from several causes - https://www.ft.lk/columns/Drug-shortages-Most-serious-symptom-arising-from-several-causes/4-771685

In these, the importance of ensuring demand is calculated accurately for the supply side of the supply and demand equation to work effectively was highlighted. As was pointed out, demand computation cannot rely entirely on usage data, and the importance of corroborating this information with other data such as morbidity data and consultations with medical doctors about future trends and the impact these will have on demand was also highlighted in these articles. A suggestion was also made to manage the drug supply chain based on the concept of managing by objectives, or MbO.