Doctors in Sri Lanka have warned that they are almost out of life-saving drugs and say the country’s economic crisis is threatening more deaths than the coronavirus pandemic.
Weeks of power outages and acute shortages of food, fuel and pharmaceuticals have led to widespread misery in Sri Lanka, which is experiencing its worst decline since independence in 1948.
The Medical Association of Sri Lanka (SLMA) said all hospitals in the country no longer had access to imported medical instruments and vital medicines.
Several establishments have already suspended last month’s routine operations because there were dangerously few anesthetics, but the SLMA said even emergency procedures may not be possible very soon.
“We are forced to make very difficult choices. We need to decide who will receive treatment and who will not, “the group said on Sunday after releasing a letter it sent to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa days earlier to warn him of the situation. “If supplies are not restored within days, the casualties will be much worse than from the pandemic.”
Rising public anger over the crisis has led to major protests calling for Rajapaksa’s resignation.
Thousands of people endured torrential rains to continue the demonstration in front of the leader’s coastal office in the capital, Colombo, for a second day.
Business leaders joined calls for the president to step down on Saturday, saying the island nation’s chronic fuel shortage had led to bleeding in their operations.
The Rajapaksa government is seeking bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help pull Sri Lanka out of the crisis, which has led to a sharp rise in food prices and a collapse of the local currency by a third in the past month.
Finance Ministry officials said government bondholders and other creditors may need to cut their hair as Colombo seeks to restructure its debt.
New Finance Minister Ali Sabri told parliament on Friday that he expects $ 3 billion from the IMF to support the island’s balance of payments over the next three years.
The critical lack of foreign currency has forced Sri Lanka to struggle to service its growing foreign debt of $ 51 billion, with the pandemic torpedoing vital tourism revenues and remittances.
Economists say the crisis in Sri Lanka has been exacerbated by poor government, years of accumulated loans and unintentional tax cuts.
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