Saturday, 24 January 2015 03:03
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The Government will present the National Drugs Policy in Parliament on 6 February, the Health and Indigenous Medicine Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said.
The decision to table the National Drugs Policy, which has been in the make for years during the tenure of the previous Government, was taken at the Political Party Leaders’ Executive Committee meeting held at the Presidential Secretariat on Tuesday.
The policy will be presented to the President and then to the Cabinet before introducing it in Parliament. The Health Minister expects it to be passed in Parliament by 20 March.
The new Health Minister said the Senaka Bibile National Medicinal Drugs Policy will be implemented in the 100-day program after making changes to meet the present day needs.
The Minister noted that with the introduction of the National Drugs Policy, pharmaceutical drugs would be available in their generic name and prices would be reduced significantly.
The National Drugs Policy has been in the making during the previous Government and President Maithripala Sirisena, who was the then Health Minister, presented its final draft to former President Mahinda Rajapaksa in last March but the policy never materialised.
