The Health Ministry has placed orders for 862 essential medicines and over 5,000 surgical items required for 2025, marking the first time such an advance order has been made, Minister of Health and Media Dr. Nalinda Jayathissa said.
Key institutions, including the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA), the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC), and the Medical Supplies Division, are now working together to streamline the process, the Minister said.
“For the first time in history the MSD has by January 31 placed an order of 862 medicines and surgical items required for the next year, to the SPC. This was due to the voluntary service of the employees of these institutions,” Jayathissa said.
The NMRA has also reduced its backlog of 2,100 pending drug registrations to 447, with 330 files processed in January alone, the Minister said.
Minister Jayatissa noted that delays in medical supply distribution have been a long-standing issue, with state pharmaceutical procurement taking up to nine months.
To address this, the government has already initiated orders for 2026 medical supplies. (Newswire)