100% government funding for vaccines from next year
– The Government will take steps next year to finance 100% of the country’s required immunization vaccines through government funds for the first time, Health and Mass Media Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said.He made the remarks yesterday (30) at an event held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute in Colombo to mark the 49th death anniversary of Professor Senaka Bibile and the 55th anniversary of the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC).Minister Jayatissa said the Government had increased the availability of medicines supplied to State hospitals from around 50% to 96%, with 862 types of medicines currently being supplied through the SPC.He said around 5,800 surgical instruments were also scheduled to be supplied, while Rs.185 billion had been allocated annually for medicines and surgical equipment.
According to the Minister, steps had also been taken to settle payments to suppliers without delay where there were no technical or documentation-related issues.He said the Government was working to reduce administrative delays in the procurement and supply of medicines, noting that administrative procedures often took longer than the time required to manufacture medicines.
Minister Jayatissa said emergency purchases of medicines could not be completely eliminated, but the Government was taking steps to prevent the misuse of emergency procurement mechanisms.He highlighted the need for the Government, universities, medical professionals and the private sector to work together to develop a more efficient and transparent health system while strengthening local pharmaceutical production.The event also commemorated Professor Senaka Bibile, founder of Sri Lanka’s National Pharmaceutical Policy and the first chairman of the SPC.The Minister and members of Professor Bibile’s family paid floral tributes to his portrait. The annual Professor Senaka Bibile Memorial Lecture was delivered by Professor Senaka Pilapitiya, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Moratuwa, focusing on applying Bibile’s vision to contemporary health and pharmaceutical policy.Memorial scholarships were also awarded to 11 outstanding medical students from universities across the country as part of the annual program established in line with Professor Bibile’s vision for education and healthcare.
The event was jointly organized by the SPC, State Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Corporation (SPMC) and the Professor Senaka Bibile Memorial Foundation.