Sri Lanka hospitals go bankrupt, surgeries stop, patients are left untreated

• An unexpected economic catastrophe has hit Sri Lanka’s universal healthcare system.
• Entire wards are dark and practically empty, and doctors are banned from reporting for duty.
• The lack of foreign currency has left the government bankrupt and unable to acquire enough gasoline to keep the economy functioning.

COLOMBO: In the largest hospital in Sri Lanka, entire wards are dark and practically empty, with the few remaining patients fleeing untreated and in pain, and doctors are banned from even reporting to work.

An unexpected economic catastrophe has hit a free, universal healthcare system that was the envy of South Asian neighbours.

Theresa Mary went to Colombo, Sri Lanka, to get treatment at the National Hospital for Diabetes and Hypertension.

Unable to locate a vehicle, she had to walk the last three miles.

She was let go four days later, when the pharmacy ran out of medicine, even though she still couldn’t stand it.

“Doctors asked me to buy medicines from a private pharmacy, but I don’t have money,” Mary, 70, told AFP.

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“My knees are still swollen. I don’t have a home in Colombo. I don’t know how long I have to walk.“

The National Hospital generally treats people from across the island nation, but it has fewer employees and any unused beds.

Chronic petrol shortages have prevented patients and doctors from travelling for treatment.

“Patients scheduled for surgeries are not reporting,”  Dr. Vasan Ratnasingham told AFP.

“Some medical staff work double shifts because others cannot report for duty. They have cars but no fuel.“

Sri Lanka imports 85% of its medications, medical equipment, and raw materials.

Lack of foreign currency has left the government bankrupt and unable to acquire enough gasoline to keep the economy functioning or drugs to cure its ill.

“Normal painkillers, antibiotics and paediatric medicines are in extremely short supply. Other medicines have become up to four times expensive in the last three months,“K. Mathiyalagan, AFP pharmacy owner.

Mathiyalagan said his colleagues couldn’t fill 3 out of 10 prescriptions.

“A lot of basic medicines are completely out of stock,” he said. “Doctors prescribe without knowing what is available in the pharmacies.”

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