Parliament was informed yesterday (18 December) that PCR and rapid antigen test kits worth Rs 6.44 billion were procured during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Rs 2.2 billion worth of kits imported by Divasa Pharma, a company not registered with the National Medicine Regulatory Authority (NMRA).

Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa, responding to a question from MP Rauff Hakeem, revealed that Divasa Pharma is tied to a larger entity that was frequently in the spotlight during the pandemic. “An investigation is underway, and Parliament will be updated with the findings,” the minister stated.

The government had spent Rs 3.1 billion on rapid antigen tests and Rs 3.28 billion on PCR tests, conducting 2,197,318 antigen tests and 4,041,124 PCR tests from 2019 to 2022. The private sector also contributed with 618,538 antigen tests and 2,641,326 PCR tests.