India's credit line to boost Sri Lanka's ailing health care

Colombo: Only a fortnight before, doctors in Sri Lanka warned about the nation's shrinking reserve of life-saving and other drugs.

Their heads-up became another worry among a plethora of problems the Island is currently facing.

Sri Lanka's closest neighbour couldn't look other way as poverty and suffering rage in the nation.

There is an acute shortage of life-saving drugs for cardiac, cancer and kidney patients.

Days ago neonatologists appealed for urgent medical supplies to save newborn infants in the emergency care.

As the situation is spiraling into severe crisis, India has once again come to the rescue of the island nation, IANS reports.

This comes in the wake of Sri Lanka's admission that the nation was unable to place orders for medicine and equipment, as financial crisis wouldn't allow the nation to open a Letter of Credit ( LoC).

India offered $1 billion credit line to purchase fuel, food and medicines; this is besides the allocation of nearly $2.5 billion since January in financial assistance.

Alongside, Sri Lanka has also received $10 million from the World Bank to purchase medicines, Director General of the Department of Government Information, Mohan Samaranayake.

Mohan Samaranayake also said discussions for aids from World Health Organistaion and Asian Development Bank were underway.

Aside from this, turning all stones Sri Lankan authorities and health trade unions appealed Sri Lankan expats for help.

Alongside offering $10 million for urgent medical supplies, the World Bank on Wednesday termed Sri Lanka's economic outlook as highly uncertain.

In its twice-a-year regional update, the World Bank wanted Sri Lanka to address high debt levels, changes in policy measures, reduce fiscal deficit, among others.