Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne today said that the government is prepared to face a shortage of drugs as prices of 48 essential drugs will be controlled.

The Gazette notice on this control of prices will be issued at midnight on October 21.

Senaratne said that drugs used for diabetes, high blood pressure, bronchial asthma, high cholesterol, ischemic heart disease, gastrointestinal ailments, hormone disorders and common psychiatric problems will be reduced. Many antibiotics will see a reduction in prices he added.

Speaking further, Senaratne said that the median value of all brands in market was used as the benchmark in determining prices of a given drug. However, the brands which has a lower price than the median will not see a price hike, he added.