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Health services to face disruption?

04 Oct 2021

  • Medical lab techs say Health Ministry’s pending payments will result in suspended services
By Dinitha Rathnayake The Health Ministry has defaulted on the payment of Rs. 12 billion owed to suppliers, and as a result, many health services are set to be disrupted in the future, charged College of Medical Laboratory Science President Ravi Kumudesh. He said that Health Ministry Secretary Dr. Sanjeewa Munasinghe has not even discussed the issue, leaving the health service in a state of disarray. “Of these, about Rs. 1 billion is in the form of loans that have not been repaid for more than a year, and about Rs. 4 billion has not been paid for over six months; Rs. 150 million has to be paid for the oxygen supply, and more than Rs. 2.5 billion for the laboratory services.”  As a result, a number of companies have decided to suspend their services in the future, and last week, the relevant company stopped supplying oxygen to the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital, he alleged, claiming that accordingly, intensive care services are all in a serious crisis and that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans, operating theatres, emergency care units, and laboratory services may not be able to function. “However, Dr. Munasinghe does not even seem to be interested in giving the health administration an alternative, other than waiting for the supplies to stop, as there is a situation where the companies do not even negotiate. At the same time, it seems that a number of unnecessary expenses are being incurred by importing unnecessary equipment and costly reagents. While some hospital laboratories have well-functioning equipment, they are piling up new equipment at high prices, and the Deputy Director of Laboratories does not seem to have any control over it. If this situation is not addressed and prompt action is not taken to repay the accumulated debts, the health services will inevitably suffer a serious breakdown.” Attempts to contact the Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Hemantha Herath and the Deputy Director General of Medical Supplies Dr. D.R.K. Herath proved futile, while Deputy Director General of Laboratory Services Sudath Dharmaratne said that this subject is not under his authority.  


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