In this picture taken on April 21, 2022, a child lies in a bed while her mother sits beside the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children in Colombo. A shortage of medicine caused by an economic crisis in Sri Lanka could cause death, doctors said, as hospitals are forced to postpone life-saving procedures for their patients because they don't have the necessary drugs.
Sri Lanka imports more than 80 percent of its medical supplies, but with foreign currency reserves running out because of the crisis, essential medicines are disappearing from shelves and the healthcare system is close to collapse.
Patients, their loved ones and doctors feel increasingly helpless in the face of the shortages that have forced the suspension of tests and postponement of procedures including critical surgery at the 950 bed Apeksha cancer hospital in the outskirts of the commercial capital, Colombo.
It is very bad for cancer patients, said Dr Roshan Amaratunga.
Sometimes in the morning we plan for some surgeries but we may not be able to do on that particular day because supplies are not there. If the situation does not improve quickly, several patients would be facing a virtual death sentence, he said.
Sri Lanka is facing a most devastating economic crisis since independence in 1948, brought about by COVID 19 battering the tourism-reliant economy, rising oil prices, populist tax cuts and a ban on the import of chemical fertilizers, which have devastated agriculture.
A government official said about 180 items were running out, including injections for dialysis patients, medicine for patients who have undergone transplants and certain cancer drugs.
The official, Saman Rathnayake, told Reuters that India, Japan and multilateral donors were helping to provide supplies, but it could take up to four months for items to arrive.
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Doctors say they are more worried than the patients or their relatives, because they are aware of the gravity of the situation and the consequences.
The consequences for people waiting for treatment were so dire, according to Dr Vasan Ratnasingam, a spokesman for the Government Medical Officers' Association.
If patients are in a queue for drugs, they will lose their lives, said Ratnasingam.
The mother of Binuli Bimsara, a four-year-old girl who is being treated for leukaemia, said she and her husband were terrified.
We had some hope because we had the medication, but now we are living under tremendous fear, the mother said.
Our future is dark when we hear about a shortage of medicines. We are really helpless. We don't have money to take our child abroad for treatment. READ MORE: Sri Lanka down to last day of petrol, PM tells crisis-hit nation that it has been hit with a crisis.
The Indian authorities delivered 25 tons of medical supplies, along with other aid, on Sunday, officials said.
The foreign minister of Sri Lanka, G.L., said that at no time India had assisted any other country to this extent. Peiris said at Colombo's port as he stood by a vessel carrying thousands of sacks of supplies.
This is the most difficult period that Sri Lanka has had to face since independence.