The true story of Rs. 76,000 cancer vaccine being reduced to Rs. 370 !

Many social media posts has published that a vaccine given to cancer patients for Rs. 76,000 would be given for Rs. 370. Accordingly, we conducted an investigation to find out the truth of this news that is circulating on social media.

Social Media Posts:

A social media post was circulated congratulating President Anura Kumara Dissanayake for his decision to give a cancer vaccine at a price of Rs. 370, which was originally sold for Rs. 70,000.

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Many other such social media posts were circulated in this manner.

We conducted a fact check to find the credibility of this circulating fact.

Fact Check :

It became clear to us through the comments made on these social media posts that the basis for such claims to be made regarding a cancer vaccine was a news published on the Lankadeepa Website.

The Lankadeepa website had published this news under the headline “We gave 76,000 cancer tablets to 370” (“76,000ක පිළිකා පෙත්ත අපි 370වට දුන්නා”) and had reported this news based on a statement made by the Deputy Minister of Health and Media Mr. Hansaka Vijayamuni.

It is mentioned in the news that the Deputy Minister Hansaka Wijemuni stated that the price of one vaccine is Rs. 76,000 and the patients even had to sell their homes to get this vaccine. Therefore, under the new government they have given the authority for three companies to import this vaccine and so the new price is Rs. 370. It has been reported that the Minister stated this at the Udunuwara Regional Coordination Committee meeting on the 17th.

We looked for any video regarding the statement made by the minister, but there wasn’t any such video. Also, other mainstream media has not reported this news.

But, Mr. Hansaka Wijemuni mentions in his speech on January 15, 2025 regarding the prices of drugs, that so far the authority to import medicine was given only to one company, and now the Ministry of Health has given this opportunity to several companies. He states that, accordingly, the prices of the medicines has decreased by 200% and that the medicines which were originally priced at Rs. 70,000 have been reduced to Rs. 370. But he does not mention any name of the medicine, or a disease which they are given. 

In particular, the name of the vaccine mentioned in the Lankadeepa newspaper has not been mentioned.

Therefore, in social media, there was a lot of discussion about the drug, stating that the vaccine mentioned in the news is a vaccine called papaverine, specifically mentioning that it is not a vaccine given for cancer.

We tried to contact Deputy Minister Hansaka Wijayamuni and Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa to find out more information regarding this, but we couldn’t. But, we are hoping to update this article by after contacting the concerned ministers.

Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama, Chairman, National Drug Regulatory Authority.

We inquired from the chairman of the National Drug Regulatory Authority, Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama about the news related to the prices of a drug which was reported to have been mentioned by Deputy Minister Hansaka Wijayamuni.

Explaining on the situatuon, he mentioned that in 2016, a maximum retail price of 60 commonly used drugs was set. He stated that thereafter, there hasn’t been any price regulations for any of the drugs, and when the agent who brings drugs gives a quoatation for a specific drug, the price is mentioned in the certificate of the drug.

But recently, this procedure has been checked in a complex manner and steps have been taken to find out whether the prices of these drugs are real and then mention them in the certificate.

Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama says that this procedure has been stopped for now because the medicine importers filed a case about it.

However, Dr. Ananda says that the drug that this being discussed on social media is papaverine. He points out that this vaccine is used in some heart surgeries and that it is not a vaccine given for cancer patients.

In 2018, the drug importers have given a price of Rs. 70,000 for this vaccine and it has also been mentioned in the price certificate. However, it wasn’t done according to the above mentioned procedure. Thereafter, the pharamacetical company has supplied this vaccine to the government, not at a price of 70,000 but at a higher price.

However, this time, a member of the medicine purchasing commitee has raised an issue, regarding the high price of drugs. He has mentioned to investigate on this as the pricing of the vaccine is too high which may not be the case.

The company which is importing this vaccine has said that they could provide this vaccine for Rs. 300, because they have to renew its company’s registration.They have reduced the price because the government is looking into this matter and the price of the vaccine in the respective countries are known by them.

Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama says that the price of other drugs can also be reduced if the existing interim order is lifted.

Dr. Ananda Wijewickrama states that the fact that people has to sell their houses to buy to vaccine is false, and that the vaccine was provided only to the government at such a high price.

The Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Regulatory Authority Dr. Savin Semage mentioned that the drug papaverine is not a cancer vaccine, at the Derana Big Focus program on 20th. He states that the media had wrongly advertised this and that the vaccine is especially used in heart surgeries.

He further mentions that though the reduction of the price of this vaccine is an unusual, it is not false.

But he says that this vaccine was not purchased for the year 2025.

Irregularities related to Papaverine Hydrochloride vaccine had been reported earlier and we have inquired about it as well.

Irregularities in previous years with Papaverine Hydrochloride vaccine

In 2021,1560 units of the Papaverine vaccine has been purchased by the Ministry of Health’s Medical Supplies Division at a price of Rs. 40,868.98 per unit, and Rs. 68.59 million have been spent. But this vaccine have been available for purchase at a cost of Rs. 255.07.

Also, the non-tender procurement committee has approved the purchase of this vaccine again without calling for new prices, and as a result, an even bigger order of 3,125 units has been purchased for Rs 127.72 million. Although 5 members of the medicine purchase committee are required for tenders of more than 50 million, these medicines have been purchased according to the approval of three members. It stated that there has been a big fraud and irregularity in buying this vaccine.

Moreover, the Medical Supply Division of the Ministry of Health had clearly instructed that the order should consider the existing stock levels before opening Letters of Credit (LCs). These instructions were ignored and LC was opened for 1,563 units instead of opening LC for only 40% of the required quantity as per the annual demand for the drug. As of 2022, 1421 units were unused, and many was due to expire by February 2023.

However, due to the presence of only one supplier registered with the Drug Regulatory Authority, the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation of Sri Lanka has had to purchase the essential Papaverine vaccine.

Accordingly, it appears that the country has lost millions all the time due to the fact that this medicine supplier has been the same for many years and tenders have not been called.

Here’s more information about that.

In the year 2022, the estimated price of a 20mg unit of Papaverine HCI has been Rs. 39,942.49 as stated in the reports of the medical supply department and a 60mg unit of the same vaccine is stated as Rs. 41,804.68.

There was no report on the estimated prices of drugs in the year 2023 on the website of the Medical Supply Department, and the report on the estimated prices for drugs in the year 2024 was mentioned. There it is mentioned as Rs. 81327,44.

Accordingly, it appears that there are irregularities regarding the Papaverine vaccine and it is being given to the government at a high price.

Market price of Papaverine vaccine

However, we inquired about the prices of Papaverine vaccine in other countries and on one website in India, Papaverine 30mg/ml i.e., 2ml injection is 35 Indian rupees. When it is converted into Sri Lanka Rupees, its price is Rs. 120.31.

A 2ml unit of Papaverine in Canada costs US$12.80. Accordingly, the price in Sri Lankan rupees is Rs. 3,797.31.

A 2ml unit of Papaverine in America costs US$ 19.60, which is Rs. 5,814.63.

Accordingly, the price of this vaccine is low in India and it appears that the price is quite high in other countries.

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Conclusion :

From our investigation it is clear that in the previous years Papaverine Hydrochloride vaccine was procured by the same supplier without inviting tenders in the previous governments and that supplier supplied the vaccine to the government at a higher price. In this situation, various irregularities have occurred in previous years.

But when the Drug Regulatory Authority examined this situation, it has been revealed that the government is able to get this vaccine at a lower price than the price given by the supplier of the vaccine earlier.

However, as stated in the Lankadeepa newspaper, it is clear that the Papaverine Hydrochloride vaccine is not a drug given to cancer patients, but is a vaccine used in heart surgeries. Also, Papaverine Hydrochloride vaccine has not been purchased by the general public at a higher price and the supplier has sold it to the government at a higher price.