30/10/2025
With recent evidence on efficacy and safety, and shifts in clinical practice, prescribing some of the high cost medicines has become a standard practice for several diseases.
However,given the cost of those drugs to the tax payer, can we really justify the use? In Sri Lanka, one such medicine, Tenecteplase is consistently one of the highest costing medicine in the state health sector over the last 5 years with a consumption cost of 3-4% (Rs 1.4 to 1.8 billion per annum) of the total
pharmaceutical consumption cost in Sri Lanka. Hence, it is always important to audit the usage and follow a standard protocol for judicious and optimal use of such drugs.
In this context, Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA), together with the Galle Medical Association and the Clinical Audit Committee of the Teaching Hospital Galle, conducted a workshop on 'High Cost Medicines and Clinical Audit' for medical specialists in Galle to update their knowledge on the same.
The workshop enabled a healthy discussion on the guidelines for rational use of these drugs and the applicability of frequent clinical audits to understand the gaps and challenges in the process.
This exercise is part of the overall strategy of the SLMA to improve and strengthen capacities of medical doctors and sustain the required standards of health governance in the country. We also acknowledge the support of UNDP Sri Lanka, as our knowledge partner in this process.
Knowledge, accountability and governance to the front!
