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President's
Fund not managed properly-AG The AG's annual
reports from 1994 to 1999 were presented to Parliament last Monday
after a lapse of six years. All six reports
stated that attention had not been paid to prepare a budget and
make use of it as an effective instrument of management control
of the Fund. Some of the
areas in need of special attention were in the utilisation of funds,
granting of loans and collecting repayment and proper supervision
of the grant of funds to religious places, where several instances
were observed of the same person applying twice and approval being
given. The 1998 report states that when such instances of the grant of funds to certain religious institutions were detected, payments had been stopped on 14 occasions. Among the outstanding
debtors to the Fund are the National Housing Development Authority
whose loan balance as at end December 1999 stood at Rs. 195 million
and the National Film Corporation with an outstanding balance of
Rs. 3 million. According to
the loan agreement with the NHDA, the loan should have been repaid
from 1991 at Rs. 25 million per year. But of the loan interest amounting
to Rs. 147,156,164 due as at December 31,1999, only a sum of Rs.
20 million had been received even up to August 2001. In the case
of the Film Corporation, out of the interest free loan of Rs. 10
million granted in 1989, Rs. 7 million had been paid up to 1993.
The balance has not been paid since then. By December 31,1999, the Fund stood at nearly Rs. 300 million, according to the AG's report. Anti-biotics
overused in private sector Dr. K. Balasubramaniam,
former senior lecturer in pharmacology and now Asia-Pacific consultant
for Health Action International told a meeting of the Sri Lanka
Medical Association that the national drug policy should be a component
of a national health policy. Dr. Balasubramaniam said there was clear evidence of irrational and uneconomic use of medicine in the private sector of Sri Lanka. As one example he cited the use of the popular anti-biotic Amoxycillin. Though the private sector in Sri Lanka caters to only about 5 percent of the warded patients and about 50 percent of the outpatients, Amoxycillin or its expensive branded version to the value of Rs. 371 million was prescribed in that sector last year, while the public sector, which caters to 95 percent of warded patients prescribed this anti-biotic to the value of only Rs. 121.23 million. The theme of
the meeting organized by the drugs committee of the SLMA and attended
by top doctors was 'Quality Drugs at Affordable Prices.' "The concept
of essential medicines is that a limited range of medicines selected
to meet priority health needs would lead to better health care,
better drug management, better use of financial resources and thereby
greater access to quality medicines at affordable prices,"
Dr. Balasubramaniam said. He said the
Expert Committees of WHO had repeatedly reiterated that rational
use depended heavily on selecting essential drugs that reflected
the best combinations of efficacy, safety and comparative cost-effectiveness.
The selection should be evidence-based and free from commercial
influences. "Sri Lanka
may consider using the new procedures introduced by WHO this year
aimed at establishing a model selection process for updating its
Model List." Limited list
of essential drugs and national drug policies are not new to Sri
Lanka. It was Sri Lanka that gave the WHO and the World the concept
of essential drugs when the late Prof. Senaka Bibile, introduced
pharmaceutical reforms in 1972-76. WHO has spread
the message to the world. By the turn of the millennium, over 100
countries had national drug policies, 156 countries have national
or provincial essential medicines lists, 135 countries have national
treatment guidelines and/or formulary manuals, at least 88 have
introduced the essential drug concept into medical and pharmacy
curricula. The Guide to
Good Prescribing has been translated into 18 languages and adopted
by teaching institutions through the world; generic competition
is encouraged in scores of countries. "It is quite clear from all available evidence and analysis, that the only way to ensure quality drugs to all at affordable prices is for Sri Lanka to formulate and implement a national drug policy based on the concept of essential drugs. This must be accompanied by the introduction and enforcement of appropriate health legislation so that the national drug policy will apply to both public and private health sectors," he said. Law
on FR violations modified Previously
action could only be instituted by the person aggrieved or an attorney-at-law
on his behalf. In the majority
order delivered by Justice Shirani Bandaranayake with Chief Justice
Sarath N. Silva agreeing it was held that when there is a causal
link between the death of a person and the process which constitutes
the infringement of such a person's fundamental rights any one having
a legitimate interest could exercise that right under Article 126
(2) of the Constitution. Court stated
that the Constitution guaranteed freedom from arbitrary arrest,
detention and torture (Article 13(1), 13(2) and 11) and consequently
the deceased detainee Lasantha Jagath Kumara had acquired a right
under the Constitution to seek redress in the event of a violation.
Court further
stated that it could never be contended that the right ceased and
would be ineffective due to the intervention of the death of the
person, especially in circumstances where the death in itself is
the consequence of injuries that constitute an infringement. "If such
an interpretation is not given it would result in a preposterous
situation in which a person who is tortured and survives could vindicate
his rights in proceedings before this court, but if the torture
is so intensive that it results in death, the right cannot be vindicated
in proceedings before this court," it was held. Lasantha Jagath
Kumara was taken into custody on June 12, 2000, produced before
a magistrate on June 17 and handed over to the Remand prison, Kalutara.
At the time he was brought to Kalutara he had made a statement to
one of the Prison officials that he was assaulted by 10 officers
including the 2nd and 3rd respondent, OIC Payagala Inspector Wickremaratne
and Ananda also of the Payagala police while in their custody. The post mortem report states that Jagath Kumara (23) died of acute renal failure due to injuries sustained on his head, body, arms and legs. Second
neuro surgical unit for Kandy The number
of cases referred to the Colombo National Hospital from the Central
Province and surrounding hospitals is expected to be cut down by
one third with the setting up of the new unit. Kandy being
a central point, the neuro surgical unit will be effective in serving
patients from all over the country instead of them being sent to
Colombo. The unit has
been set up in the building originally set aside for cardiothoracic
surgery. However, due to the absence of a surgeon, the unit remained
closed for nearly three years. The Health Ministry has now given
one of the three floors set aside for cardiothoracic surgery to
be turned into a neuro surgical unit. The other two floors remain
closed. The new unit can accommodate 24 beds, one theatre and three ICU beds. This unit is to be further expanded with time. Slow progress
in private bus streamlining It is doubtful
whether the February 28 deadline will be met, a senior official
in the Ministry, M. Susiriwardena said. The Government's
call to form these companies is to ensure that commuters have a
late night bus service as well as an off-peak service. The government
would issue the timetables for the running of bus services. This move is
expected to reduce the cut-throat competition on the roads and thereby
accidents. Depending on
the commuter frequency on a particular route, positive payment or
negative payment will be made to the government, Mr. Susiriwardena
said. The government
can take steps to fine, warn and cancel the route permit of company
owners who do not fulfil requirements. Meanwhile,
the Lanka Private Bus Owners Association President Gemunu Wijeratne
warned that if VAT was to be charged from private bus owners, they
would be forced to hike bus fares from January. However, the
all island private bus strike scheduled for December 16 was called
off following the Ministry conceding three of the four demands made
by the association. |
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