Mar 18, Colombo: Minister of Health Dr. Keheliya Rambukwella says that the procurement process in the health sector in Sri Lanka has been made more efficient with high transparency.

The Minister said the program for that is currently being successfully implemented in the relevant institutions and high efficiency in the health sector can be expected in the future.

Minister Rambukwella made this disclosure when he met with the U.S. Ambassador Julie Chung on Friday (17) at the Ministry and discussed the current situation in the health sector in Sri Lanka.

The Minister said that the procurement process was taking too long and the time taken for it has been brought to a minimum level and this process which was subjected to 18 approvals has been shortened with the opinions of the relevant professionals.

The minister also pointed out that more attention has been given for quality, security related to storage facilities, etc.

“We calculated our demand and corresponding supply for the next five years during the ordering process here. Steps are being taken to expedite this order so that the quality of the medicines is not damaged and there are no safety problems in storage."

The Minister of Health told the U.S. Ambassador that he expects the necessary support to obtain medicines for cancer, heart disease and kidney patients when considering the essential medicines needed for the health sector in this country.