News

Emerchemie’s registration delay leads to insulin dearth

Published

2 days ago

November 29, 2024

editor

The Ministry of Health has announced that arrangements have been made to bring the insulin type currently in short supply to the country within the next four days.

The Ministry of Health also highlighted that three types of insulin are used within the country’s hospital system.

Deputy Director General of the Medical Supplies Division, Dr. G. Wijesuriya, stated that the shortage arose due to a delay in the supplier’s registration process.

Dr. Wijesuriya explained that instructions have been given to airlift the first batch of the required medication, Insulin Mixtard, to the country while hospitals have been instructed to manage the available limited stocks efficiently.

Dearth and registration delay

The dearth of Insulin Mixtard, which is provided to diabetes patients at hospital clinics islandwide, had caused severe inconvenience to diabetes patients of late.

Patients have been left helpless recently after doctors had told them that there is no insulin in many hospitals across the island, including at the Colombo National Hospital.

The State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) has called for Tenders to procure 752,000 vials of this drug, and it was subsequently granted to a company called Emerchemie NB (Ceylon) Limited.

Although this company has submitted an application to the National Medicine Regulatory Authority (NMRA) to update their registration, there was a delay in receiving approval, leaving it unable to supply the necessary drug.

This matter was also taken up during the drug review meeting held recently, which was chaired by former health secretary – Dr. Palitha Mahipala.

At that time, the NMRA had announced that the updated license was ready and it was learnt that the company had not taken measures to obtain that license.

It is said that this situation has led to the prevailing dearth of Insulin, which became a pressing issue since there are over 1,417,000 diabetes patients in the country.

Mr. Mylvaganam Prathapan functions as the Group Chief Executive Officer of Emerchemie NB (Ceylon) and is also the President of the Sri Lanka Chamber of The Pharmaceutical Industry (SLCPI).

FEATURES

Draft proposed for “North-East People’s Action Plan”

Published

10 hours ago

December 1, 2024

editor

Political commentator/analyst Kusal Perera has issued a people centric program for North – East for social discourse which is as follows :

“ _Post-war issues the north-east wanted answers for, will not get trashed merely because 29% in N-E voted for NPP_ .”

– Kusal Perera / Daily FT 30 Nov.2024

North-East clearly exhibited its frustration and anger against traditional political leaderships. It is a fact, traditional political parties and leaderships don’t have a “people-centric” perspective, working on the understanding they could always manipulate the vote, in the absence of alternate leaderships.

This 2024 elections proved the people are no more ready to be manipulated to vote them as representatives of the people. At least a substantial majority in North-East did not, creating a space for an alternate action programme at grassroot level.

That action programme is proposed here as a two-part programme with initial demands in this current context and as the organisational democratic platform for a campaign.

Demands are –
01. all 22 Tamil and Muslim MPs (including NPP) in North-East issue a joint statement, confirming they stand for “full implementation” of the 13 Amendment to the Constitution

02. all 22 Tamil and Muslim MPs (including NPP) in North-East table a motion in parliament within month of December 2024, demanding the government announce they would implement the 13A in full and hold PC elections before end March 2025.

03. Public demand asking the President to present the APRC Final Report in parliament immediately (as the LLRC Report was presented)

04. De-militarise North-East administration as stressed in LLRC Final Report in establishing a civil administration

05. Minister of Justice and National Integration to provide a comprehensive list of “enforced disappearances” during and after the war to the parliament, with details and the present situation/status within 03 months

Campaign platform to constitute –
1. District level action committees consisting of people’s organisations, trade unions and professional associations

2. Federation of district action committees forming the N-E campaign platform

3. District Action Committees to form its local actions committees as electoral or professional committees

This is meant for a public discussion among North-East social activists and remains open for due amendments and alterations for improvement and implementation.

Kusal Perera – Political commentator/Analyst
2024 December 01

BIZ

Special Commodity Levy on big onions, slashed

Published

11 hours ago

December 1, 2024

editor

The Special Commodity Levy imposed on imported big onions, has been reduced by Rs. 20 to Rs. 10 per kilogram.

This will be in effect during the period from today (Dec. 01) to December 31, 2024.

However, it has been decided to keep the Special Commodity Levy imposed on imported potatoes unchanged.

Announcing the decision, a media release issued by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development states that the move comes amid a notable rise in the market price of onions.

PR Download

News

British citizen arrested at BIA over alleged terrorism financing

Published

11 hours ago

December 1, 2024

editor

Sri Lanka Police have arrested a 43-year-old British citizen of Sri Lankan origin for allegedly collecting and distributing funds for a terrorist group.

The suspect, originally from Kilinochchi, had left Sri Lanka in 2009 and later obtained British citizenship.

The arrest was made upon his arrival at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake on November 30, 2024.

Authorities from the Immigration and Emigration Department had apprehended the individual, acting on an overseas travel ban issued by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court at the request of the Colombo North Crimes Division. The suspect was subsequently handed over to the Airport Police.

According to police sources, the suspect is accused of raising funds while based in the United Kingdom and channeling the money to individuals in Colombo and the Vanni region.

The Airport Police, in coordination with the Colombo-North Crimes Division, is currently conducting further investigations.

(adaderana.lk)

(Except for the headline, this story, originally published by adaderana.lk has not been edited by SLM staff)