"It's the first time during his cancer treatment that I haven't been able to find his medication," said the 63-year-old man in search of pertuzumab, a treatment for breast cancer.

"What to do? I feel helpless," adds Mr. Ghany, on the verge of tears, whose wife is 55 years old.

“I will do my best to save her,” he said.

The country of 22 million people, in the grip of the worst economic crisis in its history, is running out of dollars to finance its imports.

And 85% of Sri Lanka's pharmaceuticals come from abroad.

All the health personnel interviewed by AFP say that the country's hospitals and pharmacies are short of medicines.

"Right now, we are working with tiny reserves," says Dr Viraj Jayasinghe, a pediatrician at Lady Ridgeway Public Children's Hospital in Colombo.

"We are concerned for the safety of our patients."

A woman, her child in her arms, waits for medicine at the pharmacy of the Lady Ridgeway Public Children's Hospital, on April 21, 2022 in Colombo, Sri Lanka Ishara S. KODIKARA AFP

Dr. Jayasinghe demonstrated like a crowd of doctors and health personnel across the country to urgently demand medicines and medical equipment, such as endotracheal tubes for infants.

"To see a child die"

Their cries of alarm have been heard and donations have been collected, but the Sri Lankan medical community assures that this does not cover their urgent needs.

"In general, we have stocks for three or four months, even six months. But here, we are at the end", specifies the doctor.

A nurse attends to a child at the Lady Ridgeway Children's Hospital on April 21, 2022 in Colombo, Sri Lanka Ishara S. KODIKARA AFP

In his establishment, for example, disposable nebulization kits, intended to treat the respiratory tract, are now reused.

“We are afraid of running out of stocks, so we have taken to washing them, drying them to reuse them”, says doctor Jayasinghe, “it is sad, but it is the reality”.

“I would especially like to avoid seeing a child die in my arms, for lack of medicine,” he underlines.

According to a national group of private hospitals, on Friday 70 lifesaving drugs were out of stock, including anesthetics.

His colleague, Dr Ananda Lamahewage, says he is hopeful of receiving supplies but, in the meantime, he is delaying certain operations to take care of the most urgent cases.

A caregiver prepares medicine packets at Lady Ridgeway Public Children's Hospital on April 21, 2022 in Colombo, Sri Lanka Ishara S. KODIKARA AFP

"We are in a very serious situation, so we will have to be very, very careful," he explains.

"Make a choice"

In the uncertainty, the doctors resort to substitution treatments.

“Families want the best for their loved ones. But when the best is not available, what to do?” asks Dr. Lamahewage, who claims to save all his resources, official and personal, as much as possible.

A pharmacy in Colombo, April 21, 2022 in Sri Lanka Ishara S. KODIKARA AFP

"From the moment we run out of essential products, we are faced with mortality," he adds.

The surgeon, who has reduced his outside activities, now systematically thinks about the drugs and materials available before entering the operating room.

"We have restrictions because we are a developing country, but so far we have managed. Now I have to choose between my patients."

There are barely two months of stocks left for Vijaytunga, a pharmacist for 12 years in Colombo.

"I often have to say 'no' to people now," said the 55-year-old, "it's the first time I've been faced with such a shortage."

Shalintha Rodrigo explains to AFP that Union Chemists, a chain of pharmacies owned by her family, is no longer able to meet medical prescriptions.

"For example, if a prescription is for two months, we can only fill it for a month or a few weeks," he explains, adding that some antibiotics and cancer drugs were no longer available.

A pharmacist takes care of customers in Colombo on April 21 in Sri Lanka Ishara S. KODIKARA AFP

This is the first time that the group has faced such a crisis in sixty years of existence.

For Mr Rodrigo, that the entire medical system in Sri Lanka will soon no longer be able to meet the needs of the sick, is an “absolutely heartbreaking” situation.

© 2022 AFP