Media reports have emerged that Sri Lanka will lose some of the concessions it has so far received when purchasing vaccines for the National Immunisation Programme, following the World Bank’s reclassification of Sri Lanka as an upper-middle-income country.
As a result, the Ministry of Health is reportedly working with UNICEF to procure vaccines so that the National Immunisation Programme is not affected in any way.
He said that although Sri Lanka had previously obtained certain vaccines under concessional terms, it would have to pay the full cost of all vaccines required in the future after being classified as an upper-middle-income country.
“All vaccines required for the National Immunisation Programme are purchased through UNICEF. We will have to pay the full cost for them,” he said.
The official also said that the additional expenditure arising from this change is currently being calculated.
He stressed that the immunisation programme would not be allowed to be affected in any way and that steps would be taken to purchase the required vaccines on time.
It is also reported that an operational agreement in this regard is due to be signed in the coming period.
According to the latest country income classifications issued by the World Bank Group on 1 July 2026, Sri Lanka has been upgraded from the lower-middle-income category to the upper-middle-income category.
Sri Lanka was among five countries upgraded to this category that year, with Jordan, Micronesia, the Philippines and Vietnam being the other four.
Meanwhile, taking into consideration shortages of certain medicines, the Ministry of Health is also planning to use an international procurement mechanism to purchase medicines.
The UNDP Procurement Office has established a number of long-term agreements with medicine manufacturers, suppliers and wholesalers that meet minimum quality assurance requirements.
These include antiretroviral medicines for HIV, medicines for tuberculosis and malaria, medicines for sexually transmitted diseases and associated infections, medicines for hepatitis B and C, as well as medicines required to treat non-communicable diseases including diabetes, hypertension and cancer.
The Ministry of Health recently revealed that around 80% of the medicines required by Sri Lanka have currently been secured, although there are shortages of certain medicines used in cancer treatment.
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