Sri Lankan parents spending hundreds on children’s leukaemia meds

Upali Pushpakumara, a farmer from central Sri Lanka, has to travel 230km ( 143 miles ) every time his son, Nuwan, needs cancer treatment.

The 18- yr- ancient was diagnosed with leukaemia next year, and since then, Mr Pushpakumara and Nuwan have had to make some trips all the way to Maharagama, a suburb of the capital Colombo, to get to the National Cancer Institute.

Sri Lanka’s residents receive free access to free medical through the government of Sri Lanka. The government allocates 4 % of its resources to care, and its position hospital system has been hailed as one of the best in the area.

But, the effects of a severe economic crisis have caused this once renowned system to now face a shortage of medicines and false medications, as well as the fact that doctors are leaving the country in droves.

Thousands of people’s families cannot afford to receive care at secret medical facilities, such as the National Cancer Institute.

These, patients like Nuwan are meant to collect diagnoses, treatment, operation and existence- saving medicines free of cost.

But nowadays, that has not really been the situation.

” The cure here is excellent. However, the majority of medications are not accessible in the clinic. We have to get them from personal pharmacies”, Mr Pushpakumara told the BBC.

He says he spends about$ 500 every month on medication.

” I am borrowing from family and friends. But the costs of some drugs have gone up sharply”, he said.

Sri Lanka, which had been severely affected by the epidemic, deadly bombings on Easter Sunday in 2019 and disastrous economic policies, ran out of foreign currency resources and declared bankruptcy in April 2022.

To save money, limits were imposed on imports of food, energy and healthcare, leading to catastrophic fuel and energy shortages.

The state dramatically raised tax rates and introduced people with lower wages for the first time in an effort to increase income. This results in millions of families today experiencing an exponentially higher cost of living as their incomes decline.

Those who have a sick family member to treatment for are among the hardest hit.

Niluka Sanjeevani, whose four- yr- old child has leukaemia, told the BBC she spends around$ 600 a month on medicines for her child- a sum she is much purchase as the price of food and housing have skyrocketed.

Sri Lanka imports almost all of its medicine, which is a major hit to the healthcare industry as well.

Due to pricing problems and commercial viability, pharmaceutical industry experts claim that there are still a few of the world’s leading manufacturers of life-saving medications.

In addition, the cost of imported medicines rose as the Sri Lankan rupee’s value increased by nearly 70 % against the dollar in the years 2022 to 2023.

” Some dishonest people import medicines from nations like Turkey and India without authorization.” They charge five or six times the original prices”, a pharmaceutical executive, who did n’t want to be identified, told the BBC.

Dr Ramesh Pathirana, the country’s health minister, admits that there have been some shortages, but insists the government is committed to increasing funding for the healthcare system.

” Some consultants are prescribing newer molecules, expensive drugs, sometimes the government could n’t bear]the cost ]”, Mr Pathirana told the BBC.

He claimed, however, that the budget for health has been raised this year to account for the rising costs of medications.

However, shortage is not the only problem.

” First, there’s a shortage of drugs and then some of the medicines the government hospital provides are out of date”, Ms Sanjeevani, who’s from the central city of Anuradhapura, says.

This was echoed by AMK Athanayake, who’s waiting for her five- year- old son to get surgery.

” Some of the medicines provided by the hospitals are of poor quality, not original. They are not effective. Hence we have to buy medicines from outside”, she said.