Doctors across Sri Lanka say hospitals are running out of medicines and essential supplies as the country’s economic crisis worsens. They fear a health catastrophe if international help doesn’t arrive soon, BBC reported.
“Day by day things are running out. If we get to the point where it’s zero, then I don’t know what will happen,” says Dr Gnanasekaram anxiously.
As secretary of Sri Lanka’s Association of Medical Specialists, the surgeon has been busy compiling lists of which medicines are running low at hospitals in the capital Colombo.
“We are short of medical drugs, anaesthetic drugs, implants, suture materials. We are nearly exhausting the stock.
“Healthcare services are going to collapse unless there’s immediate relief,” he says.
I meet Dr Gnanasekaram between consultations – he says he’s hoping this interview will encourage international donors to come forward, according to BBC.
If supplies aren’t replenished soon, the doctor warns of dire consequences.
“If that happens there may be a situation where we won’t be able to save patients’ lives.”
Sri Lanka is in the midst of its worst economic crisis in history. The country imports around 85% of its medical supplies. But with foreign currency reserves running low, essential drugs are now difficult to obtain.
At his office in Sri Lanka’s largest children’s hospital, Lady Ridgeway, medical director Dr Wijesuriya shows me a piece of paper with a list of essential drugs on it.
Next to the name of the medicine, there’s a column showing availability.
Some like atracurium – used in anaesthetics – have only two months of stock left. But as I scan the list further, other drugs are in even shorter supply, BBC reported.
There’s only two weeks left of the painkiller fentanyl, while three different types of antibiotics are already “out of stock”.
For now Dr Wijesuriya says he’s managing these shortages with substitutions. He remains optimistic that the government will find a way to get him what is needed for his patients.
Frontline doctors are far less upbeat. Many say they’ve been told by the government they can’t speak openly to the media about the situation, with only union representatives and hospital directors authorised to do so.
In a statement Sri Lanka’s government initially denied medicines were running out, even as doctors reported problems.
A day later the Department of Government Information issued a correction, admitting there is a shortage of some drugs and equipment.
Documents seen by the BBC, interviews with medical unions and testimony from frontline doctors reveal that hospitals across the nation are in desperate need of a range of life-saving drugs and equipment, according to BBC.
Medical staff have told the BBC the crunch in supplies has forced them to suspend non-essential operations, and reuse or ration some equipment.
Dr Nishan (not his real name) works at a cancer hospital in the Eastern province.
“In two weeks’ time we may have to stop most surgeries and only do emergencies,” he told me as he reeled off a list of essentials like IV fluids, paracetamol, and antibiotics that his team are struggling to get hold of.
“There may be a time when we have to even stop treating cancer patients,” he warned.
Dr Nishan is from an area hit hard by the country’s civil war. Working as a doctor in conflict has its many challenges, but this economic crisis comes with many others, BBC reported.
