• Cite GoSL apathy on resolving health sector issues

The medical specialists of the Kalutara General Teaching Hospital have boycotted the opening ceremony of the maternity and children’s hospital complex built within the Hospital with a concessional loan provided by the Government of the Netherlands, in protest of the Lankan Government’s lack of interest in resolving the issues in the health sector.

The opening ceremony of the said complex, built within the premises of the Kalutara General Teaching Hospital, was held on 15 October. The Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna Kalutara District Parliamentarians Rohitha Abegunawardhana and Sanjeeva Edirimanna, representatives of the Dutch Government, and several others attended the event.

Despite having been invited to attend the event, the medical specialists of the Kalutara Teaching Hospital had not attended it, and a medical specialist told The Daily Morning that they had decided not to attend it, in protest of the Government’s failure to resolve the crisis situation that has arisen in the health sector. “There are plenty of issues in the health sector. Substandard drugs are being imported, and given to patients. Medical professionals are leaving the country, and there has been no relief to medical professionals who suffer in the economic crisis. And, there are many irregularities taking place in the health system. Although there are several issues, the Government does not seem to be interested in resolving them. It is the people who suffer in the end. Therefore, we decided not to participate in this event. The other categories of staff were also represented by only a very few,” she said.

Shortages of many types of drugs and medical supplies emerged in the country in the recent past. While the situation was subsiding to some extent with the support of international organisations, the country saw the import of substandard drugs, and the relevant authorities such as the Health Ministry and the National Medicines Regulatory Authority have been accused of not having acted to prevent such. There have been several deaths of patients due to allergies caused by such drugs. Against that backdrop, the issue of medical professionals leaving the country emerged, and the same has resulted in severe shortages of staff at Government hospitals.