Depleted Hospitals Rely on Sri Lankan Expats to Fly in Medicine
- Medical shortages in Sri Lanka halt about 50% of operations
- India, World Bank have pledged financing and drug shipments
As Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis in decades took root, prompting medical shortages and halting surgeries, Kavindya Thennakoon knew she had to do something. Before boarding a flight from San Francisco to Colombo, the Stanford graduate and co-founder of a digital education app posted on social media and asked those running low on supplies to get in touch.
More than 50 requests later, Thennakoon packed three suitcases last month with 60 kilograms (132 pounds) of over-the-counter items for a hospital that had run out of basics, including surgical masks, glucose strips and supplements for new mothers. The most distressing requests were those that she couldn’t legally fulfill, such as cancer medication and injectable drugs for premature babies.