The Ministry of Health today rejected claims that there is a shortage of the medicinal drug Dextran which is given to dengue patients and assured that sufficient supplies of the drug have been distributed to hospitals in the country.
Acting Director General of Health Services, Dr Sarath Amunugama, refuted the allegation made by the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) yesterday that there is a shortage of the drug Dextran, which is needed for the dengue patients.
He stated that there have been no signs of dengue spreading in districts affected by the recent floods and that it was decided during the special disaster management meeting to store additional stocks of Dextran as dengue could spread rapidly after flood water recede.
He said that it was decided at the meeting to import 5,000 units of the medicine from Thailand with the assistance of the World Health Organization (WHO).
In addition, the Ministry has taken measures to import more stocks of Dextran through the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC), the Acting DG said.
