Impacts of Economic Crisis on Health Status of Sri Lanka

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Contents

Contents......................................................................................................................................2
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Reasons for the Economic Crisis of Sri Lanka..........................................................................4
The Impact of Economic Crisis to the Health Status of Sri Lanka............................................5
Impact to the Health Status of Children.................................................................................5
Impact to the Health Status of Adults.....................................................................................6
Impact to the Hospitals and Healthcare Sector.......................................................................7
Recommendations to Decrease the Affect of the Economic Crisis on Health Status of Sri
Lankans......................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The once – model nation of Sri Lanka is today experiencing a severe economic catastrophe.
There are many reasons for this according to the government such as, the Russia – Ukraine
war, tax cuts, Sri Lanka’s attempts to quickly develop the country by borrowing large sums of
money at inflated rates of interest and banning the import of agrochemicals to stop the
outflow of foreign currency. The above reasons will be discussed in – detail in this report.

Discussing the economic crisis, the records of Central Bank show the country’s inflation rate
rose from 18.7% in March 2022 to 29.8% in April 2022. Rising prices, protracted power
outages, and fuel and gas shortages in 20221 have caused a drop in both wholesale and retail
commerce, food and beverage sales, health care, and educational services. In March 2022, Sri
Lanka's services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) hit a 7 - month low of 51.3.

With the Central Bank's implementation of a flexible exchange policy in March 2022, the
value of the Sri Lankan rupee has decreased by more than a third. Prices rose as a result,
making it harder for people to cover basic living needs, which increased food insecurity and
decreased well - being.

Importantly, the economic crisis in the world has endangered public health care. It is being
supported by doctors and other healthcare professionals. The current situation has nonetheless
resulted in a gasoline scarcity that is hurting the provision of medical supplies and the
emergency transportation of patients and medical personnel. This economic crisis has
affected to many sectors in the health status of Sri Lanka.

Under this report, the affect to the children’s health status, the affect to the adult health status,
the affect to the medicines, the affect to the hospitals will be discussed.

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Reasons for the Economic Crisis of Sri Lanka
In the year 2022, Sri Lankans began to experience power outages and a scarcity of necessities
like petrol. The annual rate of inflation increased to 50%. As a result of that, nationwide riots
started in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka in April 2022. Due to a lack of sufficient foreign
currency reserves to continue importing, the nation ran out of gasoline for transportation
vehicles such as buses, trains, and medical vehicles.

Fuel scarcity led to a sharp increase in the cost of gasoline and diesel. For two weeks in June
of 2022, the government of Sri Lanka outlawed the selling of gasoline and diesel for non –
essential vehicles such as the vehicles of people in the country. Most of the companies asked
people to work from home to save resources while schools had to be closed.

The COVID 19 pandemic, which severely hurt Sri Lanka’s tourist industry and one of its
main sources of foreign exchange, was to blame, according to the government authorities of
Sri Lanka. In addition, it said that a string of fatal bombings in 2019 scared away tourists.
Yet, according to the BBC, many analysts point the finger to Mr. Rajapaksha’s (The past
president of Sri Lanka) economic policies.

Sri Lanka decided to concentrate on supplying goods to its internal market rather than
attempting to increase overseas commerce after its civil war ended in 2009. This meant that
although the cost of imports was rising, its revenue from exports to foreign nations remained
low. Sri Lanka currently buys $3 billion more annually than it exports, which is why this
country ran out of foreign currency.

Sri Lanka's reserves of foreign currencies, which were $7.6 billion at the end of 2019, are
now only about $250 million. (Perera, 2023) In the year 2019, Mr. Rajapaksha also enacted
significant tax cuts that cost the government of Sri Lanka more than $1.4 billion annually in
income.

In early 2021, when foreign money shortages in the country became a significant concern, the
country’s government sought to address the situation by outlawing the import of chemical
fertilizers and the farmers were advised to substitute locally supplied organic fertilizers.
Widespread crop failures resulted from this and Sri Lanka had to import food to augment its
domestic supplies, which made the country’s lack of foreign cash worse.

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The Impact of Economic Crisis to the Health Status of Sri Lanka
Impact to the Health Status of Children
Because of the economic crisis of Sri Lanka, infants, children as well as adolescents faced
many issues related to their health status.

A two – day – old baby in Haldummulla began to experience rapidly dropping glucose levels
on 22nd of May 2022. The child’s parents desperately wanted to take her to the local hospital,
but their car was out of gas. When the infant’s health worsened, the father spent hours in a
petrol line. When he was finally able to get her to the nearby hospital, he was instructed to
transfer the baby to the emergency room of a cutting – edge hospital in Colombo which was
190 Km away from Haldummulla. Sadly, by the time parents got to the hospital, it was too
late, and the baby passed away. (Sarkar, 2022)

The economic crisis affected to the children physically as well as mentally. Economic
hardships are linked to increased stress, a higher likelihood of behavioral issues, worse social
skills, and weaker cognitive abilities in kids. These detrimental effects are mediated by
elevated stress of parents, altered martial dynamics, and altered childcare effectiveness.
According to the family stress model, financial stress causes financial strain within the
family, which heightens parental mental trauma, melancholy and anxiety. Parents’ sadness
causes more martial arguments, which "overspill" into how they interact with their children.
(Rohanachandra, 2022)

It is also well recognized that economic downturns have an impact on kids’ physical health. It
has been discovered that babies delivered during a financial crisis had worse birth outcomes,
such as greater rates of low birth weight and premature delivery. The initial and third
trimesters were shown to be when the impacts of economic changes were most. Poorer birth
outcomes were hypothesized to be caused by worse maternal nutrition and greater levels of
mother psychological distress.

Fuel shortages have also raised the prices of food and impacted nutrition. Twenty – five
percent of the children in Sri Lanka were underweight in the year 2016 and according to the
estimations of World Food Program, 86% of the families in Sri Lanka today purchase less
nutrient – dense, less expensive food. It has also become commonplace to eat less and skip
meals, which, if it persists, would cause malnutrition in more children, pregnant women,
nursing mothers, and senior adults.

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Impact to the Health Status of Adults
The economic crisis has severely affected to the adult generation in Sri lanka.

Individuals from the Malaiyaha Tamil community who are employed and live in farmlands
that have historically had poor access to basic services, oil crisis has made it hard or
unattainable for individuals to obtain healthcare services. Transportation is either inaccessible
or ludicrously expensive as a result of the gas shortages. According to a press release of
Amnesty International, one of the members of the Malaiyaha Tamil community, named
Padam told them that he had troubled getting his mother to the local hospital which was 15
kilometers away. He has stated that "Before the crisis, he drove his own car. This has grown
harder because of gasoline scarcity. If he took public transportation, it was quite congested,
making it impossible for senior citizens like his mother to commute. The cost of tickets also
skyrocketed. He was unable to visit a doctor if he was feverish. For their ailment, they were
using Panadol.

According to a news published by United Nations, In Sri Lanka, expectant mothers now live
in a setting that was unthinkable. Services for pregnant women and the availability of
contraception are seriously being jeopardized by the crisis, and services to avoid and address
gender-based violence are also under risk. For an example, in October, 2021, woman named
Ruchika learned she was expecting her second baby, she never dreamed she would find
herself hours before giving birth in a congested distribution line, asking for petrol to drive to
the hospital. The crowd was sympathetic and let her get the fuel to go to the hospital. (De
Silva, 2022)

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Impact to the Hospitals and Healthcare Sector
Most significantly, national health care was under danger due to the economic crisis. The Sri
Lankan healthcare system is being supported by doctors and other healthcare professionals.
The situation was nonetheless resulted in a gasoline scarcity that was hurting the provision of
medical supplies and the emergency transportation of patients and medical personnel.
Because daily transportation to work was no longer cheap, nurses had no choice but to
perform double shifts.

Doctors were concentrating on finding ways to acquire important medication since supplies
were at an all – time low. The majority of Sri Lanka's medications were formerly imported,
but with the country’s lack of foreign cash, chances of doing so were slim. The price of
prescription drugs increased by 40% in April 2022. In addition, medication costs have
increased by up to four times, making it more difficult for many individuals to afford it. Even
though Sri Lanka’s hospitals are generally public, the rising cost of medications would make
it less likely for people to use private facilities, placing a greater financial strain on the public
system. This led to health care professionals leaving the country in search of better
employment.

In the year 2022, it has bought alarming difficulties to Sri Lanka’s healthcare system
including demands to reuse catheters or endotracheal tubes and scarcity of gauze, intravenous
antibiotics and insulin.

According to Amnesty International, a medical staffer has made a statement that the blood
was being drawn by nurses sans gloves. Both parties were in risk because of this issue. In
certain instances, persons in need of medical supplies were told to buy equipment or
medications from private pharmacies because the public hospitals were out of stock on
medicines. Because of this so many patients return from home again because they couldn’t
afford the prescribed medication.

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Recommendations to Decrease the Affect of the Economic Crisis on
Health Status of Sri Lankans
Health care professionals have previously argued for political reforms, fairness and more
open decision – making at the national level in order to assist the country to get out of the
economic crisis. Several medical professionals were taking part in riots demanding reform,
and they have distributed a charter.

First and foremost, on a more detailed level, steps must be taken to secure money gifts,
medicines, commodities, and equipment by utilizing social networks and professional
organizations abroad.

The efficacy of treatments regarding cost will also need to be a top consideration. It is
suggested to take the following actions: prescribing less expensive generic medications,
developing suitable cost-effective treatment procedures, and placing a greater emphasis on
clinical decision - making during medical practice as opposed to laboratory tests.

A bigger social safety system has to be put in place to assist deal with rising household out-
of-pocket costs, effects on productivity, and decreased earning potential. Social protection has
to be expanded to include newly developing requirements and connected to the health sector.
There is substantial proof that robust social and health safety programs may reduce health
issues during an economic downturn.

Lastly, it is necessary to reorganize service delivery to increase efficiency.

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Conclusion
Sri Lanka is today experiencing a severe economic catastrophe. There are many reasons for
this according to the government such as, the Russia – Ukraine war, tax cuts, Sri Lanka’s
attempts to quickly develop the country by borrowing large sums of money at inflated rates
of interest and banning the import of agrochemicals to stop the outflow of foreign currency.

The healthcare sector was affected by the economic crisis and many areas of the health status
of Sri Lankans have been affected. The children’s health status, adults’ health status and also
the hospitals were affected by the economic recession.

Many healthcare professionals have mentioned recommendations to decrease this effect and
some of them are protecting the donations and consumables donated by social authorities in
the world, give the utmost priority to efficacy of treatments regarding cost and a bigger social
system have to be put.

Finally, this report indicates that the economic downturn in Sri Lanka have severely affected
the health status and if the necessary steps have been taken, this can be recovered moderately.

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References

De Silva, R. (2022). Sri Lanka's economic crisis pushes health system to brink of collapse |
UN news. United Nations. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from
https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/08/1124842

Perera, A. (2023, March 29). Sri Lanka: Why is the country in an economic crisis? BBC
News. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-61028138

Rohanachandra, Y. M. (2022). Economic recession: The effects on children and adolescents.

Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health, 51(3), 338.
https://doi.org/10.4038/sljch.v51i3.10210

Sarkar, S. (2022, June 29). The devastating health consequences of Sri Lanka's economic
collapse. The BMJ. Retrieved April 2, 2023, from
https://www.bmj.com/content/377/bmj.o1543

Sri Lanka: Economic crisis has had 'devastating consequences' on healthcare and food
supplies - new report. Amnesty International UK. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2023, from
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/sri-lanka-economic-crisis-has-had-
devastating-consequences-healthcare-and-food#:~:text=High%20contrast
%20Default-,Sri%20Lanka%3A%20Economic%20crisis%20has%20had
%20'devastating%20consequences'%20on,and%20food%20supplies%20%2D%20new
%20report&text=People%20in%20Sri%20Lanka%20face,in%20a%20new%20report
%20today.

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