Lankans consume 820 m paracetamols in 2012

The Ministry of Health says that the people of Sri Lanka have taken 820 million tablets of paracetamol in 2012.

Of that, 570 million tablets have been issued by Government hospitals. The Ministry says that it is an increase of 250 million tablets compared to the previous year.

Ministry sources said Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena has expressed amazement regarding the stunning figures.



According to Health Ministry statistics, Sri Lankans use around 1.5 million paracetamol tablets a day or around 47 million tablets monthly.

The Minister has instructed the officials to look into the increasing consumption and to report to him. He has further instructed them to advice medical professionals to be wiser when prescribing medicine.