Sri Lanka is currently experiencing a crisis that has an impact on the scarcity of medicines and medical devices. In response to this situation, the Government of Indonesia through the Indonesian Ministry of Health sent 3,026 kg of humanitarian aid in the form of essential medicines and medical devices to the Government of Sri Lanka.

The aid was symbolically handed over by Secretary General of the Ministry of Health Kunta Wibawa Dasa Nugraha and received by Sri Lanka's Ambassador to Indonesia and ASEAN Yasoja Gunasekera at the Gapura Building, Soekarno-Hatta Airport Cargo Terminal, Jakarta on Thursday, April 28, 2022.

“With the spirit of humanity and solidarity as a friendly country, Indonesia intends to deliver health assistance to the government and people of Sri Lanka,” said Secretary General Kunta.

The Secretary General explained that in the process of collecting humanitarian donations, the Ministry of Health established intense communication with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Indonesia, WHO Indonesia and 9 pharmaceutical and medical device companies namely PT. Dexa Medica Group, PT. Bernofarma, PT. Global Onkolab Farma (Kalbe Group), PT. CKD Otto, PT. Jayamas, PT. Safelock, PT. Ocean Medika, PT. Bara Sehat Jaya and PT. Triton Manufactures, as well as support from GP Pharmacy and the Indonesian Medical Device Entrepreneurs Association.

Thanks to the assistance of CSR programs from the nine companies, a total of 22.1 billion rupiah worth of donations were collected, consisting of 11 items of medicine and 8 items of medical equipment.

“Due to the donations and cooperation of all parties involved, this donation can be received today to be handed over to the Government of Sri Lanka,” said the Secretary General.

The Secretary General said that the aid was sent in two batches using cargo planes from Soekarno-Hatta Airport. The first batch departed on 28 April 2022 with a total weight of 1.2 tons consisting of 8 items of cytostatic drugs and 6 items of medical equipment, worth 4.5 billion rupiah. The second batch is scheduled to depart on 8 May 2022 with a total weight of 1.8 tons consisting of 2 items of cytostatics drugs, 1 supplement for cancer patients, and 2 items of medical devices worth 17.6 billion rupiah.

Before being sent, all aid has been checked both in terms of function and completeness of documents by the Ministry of Health. Director of Pharmaceutical Production and Distribution Agusdini Banun Saptaningsih ensured that all aid was in good condition and ready to be flown to Sri Lanka.

“To maintain the quality and safety of drugs during the journey, packaging has been carried out according to the packaging standards for exporting drugs and medical devices, and has been equipped with accompanying documents,” said the Director of Pharmaceutical Production and Distribution.