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When medicine runs short, Sri Lankans listen, and two hospital stories travelled fast across social media in early October. A newspaper report and Facebook posts claimed that Maharagama Apeksha Hospital, the country’s main cancer hospital, was short of medicines and medical equipment and was asking the public for donations. Days later, similar posts claimed that Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children in Borella was also facing a severe medicine shortage. Many people shared both with urgent pleas to save cancer patients and sick children. We checked whether either claim held up. Here are the posts that carried them.
Social Media Posts:
Claim 1: Apeksha Hospital
Claim 2: Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children
Meanwhile, several posts claimed that the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children in Borella was short of medicines. Here are the posts.
Another post is shown below.
Fact-Check:
Claim 1: Apeksha Hospital
The National Cancer Institute made no donation request on any public platform
Our check found no statement from the National Cancer Institute of Sri Lanka (NCISL) on its official website, social media, print or electronic media, or any other public platform asking for donations of the medicines or other items named in the posts.
We therefore asked the Institute’s Director, Dr. Suranga Dolamulla. He said neither the Institute nor the hospital authorities had made any such announcement or request.
Voluntary donors are guided on procedure, but the hospital issued no public appeal
Individuals, organizations, and well-wishers often visit the hospital voluntarily to offer medicines, equipment, consumables, or other items for patient care. Depending on the donor’s request, the hospital responds to their inquiries by guiding them on the requirements, regulations, and procedures for accepting such donations.
The Director stressed that none of this should be read as a public request or appeal by the Institute for aid. Because the posts give that impression, he confirmed that they are false.
No hospital can stock every medicine in full, and some donors give both money and medicines
We also asked whether there was a shortage of medicines listed in the posts. Tigecycline and Voriconazole are used for infections, and the others for cancer and immune-system treatments. The Director said no hospital can stock 100% of all medicines, so availability varies. He added that some donors, in their inquiries, offered help with both money and medicines.
The Director issued a statement calling the posts false
The Director also sent a statement to the media calling these social media posts false.
The Divaina editor said a clarification would be published
We also asked the editor of the “Divaina” newspaper, who said a clarification on this would be published in the next day’s (October 6) edition.
Claim 2: Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children
Health Minister said the Lady Ridgeway claim was false and built on outdated website data
Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa addressed the claim on October 6 when a journalist asked about it at the Cabinet decisions press briefing. He said the report was false and had been created from outdated data on the Lady Ridgeway Hospital website. He pointed out that those sharing such information had not asked the directors of the hospitals concerned whether it was true.
The hospital website has carried the same message since 2020
We checked the website and found that the donation pages and other information had stayed unchanged since 2020, with the same message to this day.
The acting Director said medicine and surgical supplies continue without interruption
The acting Director of Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, Dr. Pradeep Rathnasekara, also said the claims circulating on social media about a severe shortage of medicines and surgical supplies were false.
He said the false reports relied on old documents and supply details prepared during the 2022 economic crisis, and that the website had not been updated since July 2022. He added that the hospital’s supply of medicines and surgical consumables was currently running properly without any disruption, and he asked the public not to be misled by these false claims.
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Conclusion:
Our fact-check found that both viral claims are misleading. Maharagama Apeksha Hospital did not publicly appeal for aid over a medicine shortage. The Director of the National Cancer Institute, Dr. Suranga Dolamulla, said neither the Institute nor the hospital authorities made any such announcement or request, and we found none on any official platform.
The Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children claim was also false. Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa and the hospital’s acting Director, Dr. Pradeep Rathnasekara, said the posts were built on outdated website data from the 2022 economic crisis, and that medicine and surgical supplies are currently running without disruption.
Authorities say anyone wishing to donate should contact the hospital administration directly and follow the proper legal procedure, rather than rely on social media posts alone. Details in the Apeksha posts, such as the hospital’s phone numbers and the ways to help, are accurate. The misleading part is presenting this as a public appeal made by the hospital.
Title: Apeksha and Lady Ridgeway Hospitals: No Public Medicine Appeal, Viral Shortage Claims Misleading
Fact Check By: Pavithra Sandamali
Result: Missing Context
