Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne has temporary suspended the registration of new private pharmacies, a Health Ministry spokesman said.
The spokesman said a decision would be made on registering new pharmacies after conducting a full survey on existing pharmacies in the country.
The survey is to be done through the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA).
Some pharmacy owners had informed Minister Dr. Senaratne that new pharmacies are mushrooming in all towns creating problems for the other business establishments, as some of those pharmacies do not have qualified pharmacists, he said.