MINISTER SIRISENA VOWS TO HAVE NATIONAL DRUG POLICY IN PLACE BY MAY

The drug mafia and bureaucratic red tape had delayed the implementation of the National Medicinal Drug Policy (NMDP), but the situation would be rectified by the NMDP Bill being passed before May this year, Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena yesterday said.

The minister said his predecessors had tried for over three decades to introduce the NMDP Bill, but powerful people in the drug trade had prevented it. They had bribed, influenced and even

threatened to

Minister Sirisena said he expects to present the NMDP Bill to Parliament in April and have it passed before May

prevent the implementation of the NMDP and even government officials had fallen into this trap, the minister said.

“A retired Legal Draftsman once promised before President Mahinda Rajapaksa to give the finalised draft of the NMDP to me within two weeks. But the draft went missing when she retired soon after. Therefore, we had to draft a new NMDP from scratch and it is has been lying at the Legal Draftsman’s office for several months. However, I expect to get the completed draft in a few weeks to be submitted for cabinet approval,” he said.

Minister Sirisena said he expects to present the NMDP Bill to Parliament in April and have it passed before May.

He said he had become unpopular among drug importers, distributors and government officials after he had ordered Health Ministry officials to refrain from spot buying of drugs and reorganised the tender procedure.

“They will try their best to prevent the implementation of the NMDP, but I have decided to go ahead with it as a mark of respect for its pioneer the late Prof. Senaka Bibile and as a service to the millions of poor patients,” Minister Sirisena

stressed.