Sri Lanka will manufacture entire drug requirement by 2019: Rajitha

The government has allocated Rs. 45 billion to import drugs for the next year, Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said.

According to the minister, in 2016, only Rs. 35 billion allocated to import drugs. It is expected to manufacture 80 percent of the country’s drug requirement in Sri Lanka by mid 2018. He was addressing the launching of five newly produced drugs by the State Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Corporation (SPMC) in Colombo recently.

Minister Dr. Senaratne said the country’s entire drug requirement will be manufactured in Sri Lanka by 2019.

Twenty two local and foreign drug manufacturing companies have already signed agreements with the SPMC to produce drugs in Sri Lanka.

Prescribing drugs in brand names will be banned after establishing the drug quality control laboratory in Sri Lanka to be built with the Chinese government, he added.

The SPMC new drugs are now available under PMC trade name, SPMC Chairman Dr. Sayuru Samarasundara said.

- dailynews.lk -