COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

SRI LANKA 7 MARCH 2012
pleasant surroundings. The unit also provides brachytherapy, radioactive iodine treatment and
chemotherapy infusions. The Centre's Radiation Treatment Unit also offers Intensity Modulated
Radiation Therapy (IMRT) with a state-of-the-art Linear Accelerator‖. Dr Ariyaratne told us that
the cost of this treatment is around Rs 500,000 (£ 2,835) and there is a 2 week waiting list. This
compares with the treatment offered by the Cancer Institute which had a 3 week – one month
waiting list, but was free of charge.
We asked Dr Ariyaratne if, in his opinion, cancer patients in Sri Lanka from all backgrounds
were able to access all of the available treatment. He said that obviously patients with money
could access treatment both in Sri Lanka and abroad. The public sector did offer flexibility for
patients from poorer backgrounds however. He explained that the institute sometimes referred
patients for treatment in Singapore or Australia. In many cases relatives and friends rallied
round to raise funds for this treatment, but the Institute could apply on the patients‘ behalf for a
grant from the President‘s Fund. Each application was considered on its own merits and if
successful, the patient was awarded sums to assist with the financing of the required treatment.
Dr Ariyaratne added that the high cost of chemotherapy treatment meant that they often had to
justify treatment in a letter written to the Ministry of Health with an assessment, which included
the patients‘ ability to contribute to the cost of the treatment.
With regard to the availability of drugs for cancer treatment, we were told that for many years
the government of Sri Lanka purchased these drugs from Switzerland. However, in recent years
the government had purchased them from manufactures in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and
Indonesia. Although they were not as pure as the Swiss made ones, they were getting better
and were now reaching a similar standard. Unfortunately these drugs do not have a long shelf
life so the government are unable to buy in bulk and stockpile, particularly when the demand for
specific drugs for specific cancers is not great. As a result, for patients undergoing long-term
treatment, the supply of these drugs can be erratic. Also, there were often occasions where the
government had purchased fake drugs because no quality control check had been carried out.
Dr Ariyaratne added that many drugs companies now offered credit facilities to general
pharmacies which had resulted in more pharmacists making drugs for cancer treatment readily
available.
Yours sincerely
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Second Secretary (Migration)
This letter has been compiled by staff of the British High Commission in Colombo
entirely from information obtained from sources indicated. The letter does not reflect the
opinions of the author, not any policy of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. The author
has compiled this letter in response to a request from UKBA and any further enquiries
regarding its contents should be directed to UKBA.
250 The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.