Apeksha Hospital in Maharagama has issued a statement saying it has made no public appeal, advertisement, announcement or request for donations of medicines or other materials, hours after a list of drugs and surgical consumables said to be needed by the hospital was reported as an appeal it had issued.
The National Cancer Institute Sri Lanka (NCISL), which operates the hospital, said it had not published any such advertisement through its official website, social media, print or electronic media, or on any other public platform, Sri Lanka Mirror reported on Monday.
What the two accounts say
Earlier on Monday, the Daily Mirror reported that cancer patients at the hospital were facing a shortage of several essential medicines and surgical consumables including colostomy bags, and described the hospital as having sought donations.
The items listed were Tigecycline 50mg, Methotrexate 500mg and Fluorouracil 1g injections, Methotrexate 2.5mg and Voriconazole 200mg tablets, Chlorambucil 2mg capsules, and adult colostomy bags and plates. The report said donated medicines had to carry original invoices and be approved by the National Medicines Regulatory Authority, and set out hours for accepting donations.
Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa, chairman of the Medical and Civil Rights Doctors’ Trade Union Alliance, was quoted urging the public to help by donating the items patients needed, and to prioritise medicines and surgical equipment over food.
The hospital’s explanation of how such lists arise
The NCISL statement does not say donations are unwelcome. It says individuals and organisations wishing to donate medicines, equipment, consumables or other materials may do so, and that the hospital will give a prospective donor guidance on the requirements, specifications, regulatory requirements and procedures involved.
The statement’s key line addresses exactly how a requirements list can come to circulate as an appeal: any information provided to a donor in response to such an inquiry “should not be considered a public request or appeal for donations made by the NCISL.”
That is a narrower claim than a denial of shortages. The hospital is disputing that it publicly solicited donations — not stating that the listed items are adequately stocked. Neither account addresses the hospital’s actual stock position, and the statement makes no comment on Dr. Sanjeewa’s remarks.
Why the distinction matters
A national cancer hospital’s name attached to a donation appeal carries weight, and appeals attributed to Apeksha have circulated before. The institute operates an official donations channel, and its position is that requests reaching the public through other routes are not its own.
LankaNewz is not republishing the contact details carried in the earlier report, because the institution named in them says it did not issue the appeal they belong to. Readers wishing to donate should approach the hospital directly and follow the guidance it provides.
Not reported
No verified newsroom had carried the NCISL statement at the time of writing, and the full text has not been published. Neither account says what prompted the statement, who compiled the circulating list, whether the hospital is currently short of the drugs named, or whether the Health Ministry has been asked to respond. Ada Derana’s coverage could not be retrieved.
Sources: Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka Mirror.
