The World Bank (WB) & the Asian Development Bank (ADB) decided to provide $30 Million to import medicines that are short in supply in Sri Lanka, officials said.
The Ministry of Health said that the letter of credit has been sent to import the medicines in short.According to the Ministry of Health 42 types of medicines are in short in the country.
In the meantime, Sri Lanka has requested aid from the World Health Organization (WHO) & the WHO has responded positively, said the Ministry of Health.The Ministry of Health said accordingly, that the shortage of medicines will be rectified soon.
Meanwhile, Director General of Health Services, Dr. Asela Gunawardena stated that due to the shortage of anesthetics drugs, only essential surgeries are being performed in Government Hospitals.He noted that only cancer and accident-related surgeries are performed
The World Bank (WB) expressed its deep concerns on the ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka, especially its impact on the livelihoods of the people.
WB South Asia Vice President Hartwig Schafer took to Twitter earlier this week to share the observations of the agency.
“We, at the World Bank, are deeply concerned about the impacts of the crisis on the poor and vulnerable and stand ready to provide emergency support for essential medicines and health-related supplies, nutrition and education,” tweeted Schafer.
While expressing concerns on the ongoing economic turmoil in the country, he said the agency had a “good” meeting with Finance Minister Ali Sabry and Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe in Washington DC.
Top officials of the Finance Ministry and Central Bank are currently in Washington DC for discussions with the International Monetary Fund.
The WB Vice President discussed with the Sri Lankan delegations on the actions that could be taken to address the economic crisis, support stabilisation, recovery and protect the vulnerable people.
