Eighty Drugs Are Identified As The Essential Drugs For Sri Lanka Under The Proposed National Drugs Policy

Around 80 Medicinal Drugs are identified as essential drugs to the country under the Proposed National Medicinal Drugs Policy the chairman of the National Medicinal Drugs Policy Draft Committee Dr.Palitha Abeykoon has said today(06).At present around 800 varieties of drugs have been imported to Sri Lanka annually.

While addressing the media at the seminar on National Medicinal Drugs Policy held today at the Government Information Department, Dr,Abeykoon has said that under the proposed drugs policy the importation of Medicinal Drugs to the country and prescribing drugs to the patients should be done by the generic name.However a special provision will be provided under the policy to the doctors where they can mention the trade name of a specific drug after write it by the generic name when the need arise he has stressed.

However the full authority of whether the prescribed drugs should be purchased through the generic name or by the trade name will be vested with the patients Dr.Abeykoon has said.

Meanwhile both the Government Pharmacists Union and the All Ceylon Government Medical Officers Association have criticized the health authorities on the special provision provided under the drugs policy for doctors to prescribe medicines by trade name in addition to prescribe it with generic name.Under the Professor Senaka Bibile's National
Drugs Policy Concept all medicinal drugs should be prescribed to the patients through generic name the unions have stressed.

When asked on this Dr.Abeykoon who is the head of the National Medicinal Drugs Draft Committee has said that under the present market economy no country will be able to import and prescribe all the drugs under generic name."Therefore we are thinking of introducing generic branded drugs "he has pointed out.