Sri Lanka to fully fund all immunisation vaccines from state coffers in 2027

Sri Lanka will procure all immunisation vaccines required by the country entirely using government funds in 2027 for the first time in its history, Minister of Health Nalinda Jayatissa has announced.

The minister said the government intends to use 100% state funding for the procurement of vaccines required for the national immunisation programme next year.

He made the announcement at an event in Colombo marking the 49th death anniversary of Prof. Senaka Bibile and the 55th anniversary of the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC).

Jayatissa said the supply of medicines to government hospitals, which had previously been at around 50%, has now increased to 96%.

According to the minister, 862 types of medicines are being supplied to government hospitals through the SPC, while around 5,800 surgical items are also expected to be supplied.

The government has allocated Rs. 185 billion annually for the supply of medicines and surgical items, he said.

Jayatissa added that steps have been taken to make payments without delay to suppliers of medicines and surgical items where there are no technical or documentation-related issues.

The minister said efforts are also underway to reduce administrative delays in medicine procurement and make the supply system more efficient and stable.

He acknowledged that emergency procurement cannot be completely avoided in purchasing medicines, but said previous misuse of emergency procurement mechanisms had created difficulties in using the process.

Jayatissa called for greater cooperation among the government, universities, medical professionals and the private sector to build a more efficient and transparent health system while strengthening local pharmaceutical production. (Newswire)