science

National Medicinal Drugs Policy

National Medicinal Drugs Policy is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand National Medicinal Drugs Policy rather than just read about it. In short: The National Medicinal Drugs Policy is an essential part of Sri Lanka's Health Policy, aimed at the rational use of pharmaceuticals. By the beginning of the 21st Century, Sri Lanka had approximately 9,000 registered medicinal drugs, hundreds of which were non-essential, unnecessary, highly expensive or even dangerous.

Key takeaways

National Medicinal Drugs Policy belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect National Medicinal Drugs Policy to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of National Medicinal Drugs Policy from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The National Medicinal Drugs Policy is an essential part of Sri Lanka's Health Policy, aimed at the rational use of pharmaceuticals. By the beginning of the 21st Century, Sri Lanka had approximately 9,000 registered medicinal drugs, hundreds of which were non-essential, unnecessary, highly expensive or even dangerous. In 1996 the Government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga had established a new health policy, one stated aim of which was to develop and implement a National Drug Policy for the rational use and distribution of drugs. While this policy continues to this day, no concrete measures had been adopted for its implementation. In 2005 the United People's Freedom Alliance Government promised to establish a National Medicinal Drugs Policy (NMPD) that would enable Sri Lankans significantly to cut down on drug expenses and get quality drugs at affordable prices while saving billions of Rupees in foreign exchange for the country. It anticipated that the implementation of the NMDP could reduce the number of drugs imported, prescribed and sold in Sri Lanka to about 350 varieties. Consultations were held with all stakeholders, presided over by Prof. Krisantha Weerasuriya, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Advisor, Essential Medicines over four days in June 2005, and the draft for the NMDP was prepared. In October, the Minister of Health obtained cabinet approval for the draft NMDP and promised that the appropriate legislation would be introduced in parliament. In February 2006 the Health Ministry called another meeting of all stakeholders and the Minister gave assurances that the NMDP would be implemented within weeks. An eighteen-member National Standing Committee (NSC), including a representative of the People's Movement for the Rights of Patients, was appointed in March to oversee and expedite the implementation of the Drug Policy based on the Seneka Bibile principles of rational drug use. The NSC was advised by the Legal Draftsman that new legislation should be drafted for the establishment of the NMDA. During 2007, popular pressure for the implementation of the NMPD grew. In October, the Cabinet approved to a Memorandum submitted by Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva on the establishment of the National Medicinal Drug Authority (NMDA) and granted its approval to draft a new Act with the assistance of the Legal Draftsman to expedite the implementation of the NMPD by repealing or amending the existing Cosmetics Devices and Drugs Act where necessary. Although the scene was created to establish the Authority, it did not take place due to the civil war in the North of the country. The stalemate of Drugs being regulated by the Ministry bureaucrats continued. From 2010 to late 2014, Mr Maithripala Sirisena was the Minister of Health and strongly supported the establishment of the Authority but there was no support from the President, Mr Mahinda Rajapakse. At the end of 2014, Mr Sirisena challenged Mr Rajapaksa at the Presidential Elections and won. Implementing the National Medicines Policy and within it the National Medicines Regulatory Authority was a part of the 100 day plan of President Sirisena. The Act to establish the Authority was finally passed in early 2015. Finally in mid 2015, an independent Medicines Regulatory Authority was established in Sri Lanka. There is an interesting discussion on regulating Medicines Prices by the NMRA (July 2020) in e-drug. This does show it is possible to regulate prices of medicines and the industry/trade despite protesting will remain in the market as they can get a reasonable Return on the Investment.

References 'National Health Policy - Sri Lanka', Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition 'Include Medicinal Drugs Policy in Polls Manifesto' 'Major health issues untreated', Editorial, Daily Mirror, 10 January 2007. 'Cabinet Decisions: Drug Regulatory Authority', Daily News, 13 October 2007 'Let no obstacle stand in the way of the right medicine - Open letter to the Health Minister', Sunday Times Online, 25 February 2007 'Sri Lanka: Drug Regulatory Authority to be formed, Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka, Geneva, Switzerland, Press Release, 12 October 2007

External links Please see the links to the National Medicinal Drug Policy adopted by the government of Sri Lanka:

Lall, S., & Bibile, S. (1977). 'The political economy of controlling transnationals: The pharmaceutical industry in Sri Lanka (1972–1976). World Development, 5(8), 677-697' 'WEERASURIYA, K. (1993). Essential drugs and registration of pharmaceuticals - the Sri Lankan experience. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 71(2), 229-235' 'Draft National Medical Drug Policy for Sri Lanka', Health Sector Response 'National Medicinal Drug Policy', Weekly Epidemiological Report, Vol 32 No 41, 08 - 14 October 2005 (PDF) 'National Medicinal Drug Policy for Sri Lanka' 'National Medicines Regulatory Authority Act, No 5 of 2015 'Sri Lanka Regulatory Authority assures price control' e-drug

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with National Medicinal Drugs Policy

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what National Medicinal Drugs Policy claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to National Medicinal Drugs Policy before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about National Medicinal Drugs Policy ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of National Medicinal Drugs Policy

In research: National Medicinal Drugs Policy appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses National Medicinal Drugs Policy in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: National Medicinal Drugs Policy is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Drugs in Sri Lanka, Government of Sri Lanka, Pharmaceuticals policy, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for National Medicinal Drugs Policy outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study National Medicinal Drugs Policy in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what National Medicinal Drugs Policy means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain National Medicinal Drugs Policy out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is National Medicinal Drugs Policy in simple terms?

Why does National Medicinal Drugs Policy matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study National Medicinal Drugs Policy?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on National Medicinal Drugs Policy.