Cancer patients being treated at Apeksha Hospital in Maharagama have written to the President, the Prime Minister, the Health Minister and health authorities warning that shortages of essential medicines are delaying their treatment and putting their lives at risk.
In the letter, reported by Daily Mirror, the patients said there is a serious shortage of Neupogen, a drug needed by patients undergoing chemotherapy. They said the shortage is preventing them from receiving chemotherapy on schedule and could allow their conditions to deteriorate.
A Neupogen injection bought privately costs more than Rs. 20,000, the patients said, and some of them require several doses. Many are already struggling to cover food, transport and other basic costs while undergoing treatment, making private purchase unaffordable.
The patients said other chemotherapy medicines are also unavailable at the hospital at times. When limited stocks do arrive, they said, the quantities are not enough for everyone, leaving some patients without the drugs their treatment requires.
They said the shortages are compounding the financial and emotional strain of cancer treatment amid rising living costs, and several raised concerns about their young children and families, saying their children’s futures depended on their survival.
“What we ask for is not merely sympathy, but the protection of our right to live,” the patients said in the letter.
They urged the authorities to act immediately to secure a continuous supply of essential cancer medicines at the hospital.
Apeksha Hospital, also known as the National Cancer Institute, is Sri Lanka’s principal cancer treatment facility. No response from the Ministry of Health or the hospital administration was included in the report, and none had been issued at the time of publication.
Update, August 18: specialist says shortage extends beyond Apeksha
A specialist has since said the shortage extends across both state and private hospitals and has gone unresolved for close to two years.
Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa, Chairman of the Doctors’ Trade Union Alliance for Medical and Civil Rights, said drugs including Neupogen and filgrastim — known collectively as G-CSF drugs — are in short supply, Daily Mirror reported.
Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor drugs are given to patients undergoing cancer treatment to stimulate the production of white blood cells, strengthening the body’s ability to fight infection while the immune system is suppressed by chemotherapy.
“These drugs directly affect the white blood cell count and are essential in protecting cancer patients from infections while they undergo treatment,” Dr. Sanjeewa said.
He said the Medical Supplies Division has been unable to accept stocks of the medicines because of a problem that arose during the importation process, and criticised the Health Ministry for failing to ensure a continuous supply of essential cancer medicines for nearly two years.
Dr. Sanjeewa said the shortage is being felt in the private sector as well as in government hospitals. Daily Mirror noted that his claims could not be independently verified, and no ministry response was carried in that report either.
Update, August 21: Health Minister responds in Parliament
Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa has since told Parliament that the shortage is temporary and should be resolved within about a week. He said a consignment of 160,000 vials delivered on July 28 had to be rejected because the prefilled syringes did not carry labels required by the National Medicines Regulatory Authority, and that the supplier has been asked to airfreight replacement stock.
That account matches Dr. Sanjeewa’s description of a problem arising during the importation process, though the Minister said the delay was not the fault of either the Ministry or the supplier.
