Rs. 30 billion or 100 million US dollars of public money had been paid to a particular supplier, from whom medicines had been purchased at very high prices for several years, said the FSP.
At a media briefing yesterday (18), its education secretary Pubudu Jayagoda gave the name of the supplier as Singapore’s Eureka Life Sciences, whose local agent is Yaden International.
Giving one example, Jayagoda said 9,000 vials of erithroprotein alpha 1,000 IU vaccine were bought at 34.78 USD per vial in 2018, whereas a Chinese firm supplied it at less than 50 US cents during the same period.
Jayagoda produced a list of medicines that were purchased in recent years from this Singaporean firm at high prices.
They included acetazolamide sodium bought at 281.52 USD, but sold at 141.52 USD by others, adrenaline bitratrate at 10.03 USD whereas the market price was just 15 US cents.
Even at exorbitant prices, these medicines have quality issues, with 19 out of 80 medicines taken out of use in 2020 and 23 out of 120 in 2021 and 10 out of 86 in 2022 were imported by Yaden International, he said.
The FSP activist questioned as to who had profited from these rackets.
The PAYE tax that forced skilled professionals to leave the country could have earned Rs. 48 billon, but as much as Rs. 30 billion had been wasted on a single medicines supplier, he noted.
Jayagoda accused the government of bringing in various acts and dividing the people by spreading racism etc. to repress those who speak up against such rackets.
He urged the people not to remain silence in the face of such heinous crimes.
