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PHIs warn of TU action if Ministry acts against whistleblower PHI Chief

30 Sep 2022

BY Dinitha Rathnayake    The Public Health Inspectors’ (PHI) Union of Sri Lanka warned of taking continued trade union (TU) action if the Ministry of Health takes action against its President M.G. Upul Rohana related to his claim regarding Thriposha (three nutrients) – which is a locally produced supplementary food product that is provided free of charge to pregnant and breastfeeding females and infants – where he charged that such contains aflatoxins (a family of toxins produced by certain fungi that are found on agricultural crops such as corn/maize).  Speaking to The Morning, Union Secretary S.I. Bopitiya said that Rohana only made his comment for the goodwill of the society.  “Rohana made his comment to educate the society and he had no wish to seek to obtain an advantage for himself by commenting like that. After a discussion with the Secretary to the Ministry, we were informed that no major investigation would follow against him and that only a primary investigation would continue on what he said.” The Executive Committee of the PHIs’ Union assured that the statement made by Rohana regarding the toxic Thriposha stocks was correct. Addressing the media, they claimed that the Thriposha stocks distributed to pregnant females and breastfeeding mothers and infants contain more aflatoxins than Rohana had claimed. Moreover, the union claimed that the distributed Thriposha was not suitable for human consumption and that the union had therefore taken all required actions and informed all the relevant institutions in this regard. “As a responsible union, we do not make unverified statements. All the statements we make are based on evidence and proof,” the union said. However, after denying claims that aflatoxins are found in Thriposha, the Sri Lanka Thriposha Ltd. company is to henceforth submit a report regarding the level of aflatoxins in each distribution to the relevant medical officer of health. Speaking to The Morning, Sri Lanka Thriposha Ltd. Chairman Deepthi Kularathna said that the report would contain accurate measurements on the levels of aflatoxins and could be referred to by anyone that uses the said nutritional supplement. He said however that the manufacturing of Thriposha has been halted at the moment due to a shortage of ingredients. He also said that Thriposha has not been provided to children for the past eight months due to a shortage of soya and maize.  


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