News

News

MSF pulling out, going elsewhere
Medecins Sans Frontieres (France) deployed in the North and East for emergency humanitarian work during the ethnic conflict is pulling out of Sri Lanka in a bid to provide the Government and the LTTE to fill its void in humanitarian work.

Head of Mission Yves Chartier told The Sunday Times that with the peace process and fighting coming to a halt they feel it is time for them to leave Sri Lanka.
The MSF has also put forward several proposals both to the Government and the LTTE so that the people will be provided with continuous medical assistance.

In the early 90s MSF was accused of giving medical assistance to wounded LTTE cadres. However, Mr. Chartier said that the MSF motto was to help any patient.

"Our motto is to help patients be it LTTE, Army soldier, irrespective of caste, creed and race. That is what we did, it is wrong to say that we helped LTTE cadres. To us any person wounded was a patient and we provided medical assistance" he said.

Mr. Chartier added that another reason for MSF to leave Sri Lanka was that its services were needed in other parts of the world where crisis situations had arisen.

Nine-day doctors’ strike ends at last
By Faraza Farook
The Government Medical Officers Association called off its nine-day long strike yesterday after the Health Ministry issued an amended circular on Friday night approving a renewed salary scale rectifying a long-standing salary anomaly.

Accordingly the new salary structure will come into force from July 1 this year.
On Wednesday night, the Health Ministry issued its earlier circular after the issue was taken up at the Cabinet meeting. However, the GMOA refused to accept the circular stating it was a farce and continued the strike.

The GMOA said the circular issued on Wednesday only stipulated the rectified salary scales and the recommendations of the Cabinet Sub-Committee. This, it felt, was a mechanism to pursuade the doctors to call off the strike, but did not meet their demand in full.

The GMOA called for an amended circular with all the required contents, definitively stating that Cabinet approval would be given for the Sub-Committee recommendations to be implemented.

On Thursday, the trade union officials met Prime Minister's Secretary Bradman Weerakoon and Finance Secretary Charitha Ratwatte to pursuade them to resolve the issue at its earliest. While awaiting the amended circular from the Health Ministry, the GMOA stopped admissions to Ragama and Kalubowila hospitals on Friday putting pressure on the authorities for a quick response.

The doctors threatened withdrawal of emergency services aggravating the trade union action, if the Ministry failed to issue the circular as early as possible. On Friday evening the Ministry sent a draft of the amended circular and on approval by the GMOA, a new circular was issued that night.

Meanwhile the Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) which went to courts during the GMOA strike in 1999 against the trade union action said the doctors were striking at the expense of patients.

On June 23, 1999, the Foundation got an order from court against the strike, but the GMOA defied the order. PILF Chairman Sumedha Senanayake said. "We had to file contempt papers thereafter and the case dragged on until recently when it was withdrawn".

He said Sri Lanka was the only country where doctors went on strike. Although it was a fundamental right, he said, doctors have to bear in mind that their demands cannot be matched against the lives of hundreds of people.

New hope for creeping blindness
Older people who suffer from neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), a leading cause for blindness can now reduce the risk by seeking treatment in Photo Dynamic Therapy (PDT). The threat of AMD, a leading cause for blindness in a large

number of people over 50 years-old, can now be reduced substantially if early treatment in PDT is sought. The treatment involves the infusion of a light reactive drug into the patient's blood, which attaches itself selectively to the abnormal blood vessels that cause loss of central vision among older people or those afflicted with severe shortsightedness(pathological myopia). Then, a low intensity laser is used, which activates the drug and triggers photochemical reaction and seals off leaking abnormal blood vessels behind the retina.

"Visudyne (the drug) therapy is a simply OPD procedure with minimal side effects," Dr. Dushyantha Wariyapola, Consultant Opthalmologist at the Sri Jayewardenepura Hospital said. He said the drug is infused into the patient's arm for 10 minutes and after a five minute wait, the non-thermal laser is applied for 83 seconds, with the entire procedure taking only half an hour.

"In ideal cases, Visudyne therapy doubles the patient's chances of maintaining vision in comparison with a patient who is not treated", he said. The therapy is also said to stabilize the patient's vision and prevent further deterioration.

Police, SLCTB in tug o' war over “rape bus”
A so-called rape bus was pulled this way and that by the police and the SLCTB before it was released to carry Poson travellers to Polonnaruwa and Batticaloa.
The bus which was detained by police to be produced in courts after its conductor allegedly raped a passenger was one of the fleet deployed by the SLCTB to provide transport facilities for people who were going home for Poson.

However, the bus could not perform the intended duty as the Pettah police took the bus into custody on June 12 when it was parked at the Colombo Central Bus Stand.
Police have stated that the conductor of the bus has allegedly raped a woman inside the bus and therefore the bus has to be produced in courts.

Subsequently, the SLCTB transport manager had requested the Pettah police OIC to release the vehicle because lot of passengers who were to travel to Polonnaruwa and Batticoloa were stranded because the bus was pulled out. But police didn't release the vehicle asserting their previous stand.

However, the bus was later released by the Pettah police when the matter was brought to the notice of SSP Alfred Wijewardena.

Back to News