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$ 1 mn WHO grant for '21 Covid Home Care utilised improperly?

16 Sep 2022

  • 400-strong group that manned ‘1390’ system unpaid
  • Ministry makes contradictory claims on grant
BY Buddhika Samaraweera   Questions have been raised about the utilisation of a grant of $ 1 million received by the Ministry of Health from the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the implementation of the “1390 Home Based Care System” during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in Sri Lanka in 2021. The issue has arisen due to the non-payment of allowances as agreed upon for a group of medical graduates and others recruited to manage the said project, which was initiated to ease the congestion in hospitals. When Covid-19 infections saw an increase in 2021, the Ministry received a grant of $ 1 million from the WHO to launch a home-based care system in September 2021. An announcement issued by the WHO at the time stated that it was supporting the recruitment of a batch of 1,450 pre-intern medical officers to operate the system for three months. The project was initially implemented between September and December 2021.  Accordingly, a service agreement signed by Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr. Asela Gunawardena, of which a copy was seen by The Morning, had been given to the medical graduates and others recruited for the programme. The agreement stated that a recruit would be paid a monthly allowance of Rs. 45,000 during the period of their service to the programme. It is also stated in the agreement that the recruits can be terminated with 10 days of prior notice at the will of the employer (the Ministry of Health).  According to the initial agreement, the programme, which was in operation until December of last year, was supposed to conclude by the end of December, but due to the rise in Covid-19 infections, the Ministry had subsequently decided to extend it until March of this year. However, sources told The Morning that more than 400 individuals who were corresponding with and directing Covid-19 patients to doctors over the phone under the relevant project in February and March of this year have not been given the promised monthly allowance. There is a possibility that the grant obtained was exhausted after making the payments related to those involved in the first phase of the project, but this raises the question of why the project was extended and more than 400 people were recruited, as Ministry officials would have been able to calculate how many more people could have been recruited using the balance funds obtained under the said grant. In order to inquire about this, The Morning spoke to two officials from the Ministry of Health, who said that they voluntarily supported the implementation of the project, while carrying out their prescribed duties as well. However, they did not manage to clearly state how the project was implemented and how the received grant was spent. When questioned about the fact that some people involved in this project had not received the payments related to the months of February and March 2022 so far, they mentioned that they could not make the payments just because the recruits were involved in the project, and that the recruits should have performed their required duties properly in order to receive the payments. The officials mentioned that the Finance Department of the Health Ministry only pays those who have performed their duties as expected. However, in contradiction to their own statements, the relevant officials once again said that the grant that was received had been fully utilised after making the related payments to those involved in the first phase of this project. They said that the received fund was used sparingly in order to help control the Covid-19 pandemic situation. One of the two officials mentioned that the Ministry's Finance Department had informed them that the grant received from the WHO was worth Rs. 156 million in terms of the US dollar exchange rate at the time, which was around Rs. 200 per US dollar. However, when questioned about the total number of recruits for this project, they stated that the number of recruits changed from month to month, as some of the medical graduates involved in the project obtained internship appointments and left to work in hospitals. However, sources told The Morning that the overall number of recruits for this project was less than the previously agreed upon amount of 1,450. On one occasion, they mentioned that there was a certain amount of money left over from the relevant grant, and that that amount would be enough to pay an allowance of Rs. 15,000 per each month to those who worked for the project in February and March. On another occasion, they said that there were people who had volunteered for the project in February and March. Therefore, due to the inability to make payments to the volunteers, the payments to those who are owed money have also been suspended. When queried about the exact value of the grant received under this project, the number of people including medical graduates who were involved in this project in each month from September 2021 to March 2022, and the total number of people who have been paid and are to be paid, the two officials stated that they were not aware of such details, and that the Ministry's Finance Department should be questioned about it. However, when queried as to whether there was a possibility of informing The Morning of such details upon inquiry from the relevant Department, they said that there was no possibility of such, as the department would only release the information if directed to do so by the DGHS.  Furthermore, the officials mentioned that further information regarding this project could be obtained from the DGHS and the Health Ministry’s Finance Department, and that they would arrange a discussion with them and inform The Morning. However, as of yesterday (15) evening, they did not inform The Morning of such a meeting. Attempts by The Morning yesterday to reach the DGHS also proved futile. The Morning also queried the WHO Country Office for information on this project, to which a response is awaited.    An announcement from the WHO regarding the programme read: “The Ministry, in collaboration with the WHO Country Office, has expanded the integrated home based isolation and management of asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic Covid-19 patients in Sri Lanka. The WHO is supporting the recruitment of a batch of 1,450 pre-intern medical officers to operate the system for three months. Moreover, the pre-intern medical officers will promote the accelerated implementation of the Government’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign by providing vaccine information and answering queries from the public. The Directorate of Tertiary Care Services of the Health Ministry oversees the system and ensures the careful selection of asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic Covid-19 patients. The qualified patients will be enrolled and monitored based on protocols and referred for evacuation as necessary to a Government hospital for institutionalised care.” 


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