Doctors in Sri Lanka say lives will be lost as the country's supply of medical equipment rapidly declines.
They've joined in the call for the country's president to step down after years of mismanaging the economy.
Dr Vasan Ratnasingham is in charge of coordinating international medical aid. He said the country is short more than five lifesaving vital drugs and 237 essential drugs which are used against less severe diseases.
Among the list is Neogistine, which is used to wake up patients after they're anaesthetised, along with anticoagulants which are used to get rid of blood clots.
Dr Ratnasingham said Sri Lankan hospitals have continued treating patients through 30 years of civil war, after a tsunami and even coped through waves of COVID, but the lack of funds has seen routine surgeries grind to a halt and for the procedures that can go ahead, doctors say they have to re-sterilise and re-use surgical equipment - including gloves and blades.
"It makes the blade a bit dull and the operation isn't as neat," said Dr Sachitha Wijeyratne, adding that could lead to further problems for the patient down the line.
OBGYN Dr Tharindu Wickramaratne said they're having to ask patients to source items such as catheters at pharmacies.
The equipment and drugs are expensive and often unaffordable for patients. The doctors are appealing to the international medical community for help with their list of needs.
Dr Ratnasingham said there are just weeks' worth of stock left of life saving drugs.
"The health sector will go into a languished state, it'll collapse very soon," he said, because doctors simply won't have the tools to prevent avoidable deaths.
