News
Timely intervention beyond the call of duty by paediatricians to save little lives
As Sri Lanka descended into an economic morass with its multi-tentacles choking not only fuel, food and energy stocks but also essential medicines and devices, the healers of children, along with other medical bodies, went beyond their call of duty of treating and managing the sick.
With the health crisis showing dangerously low stocks of medicines and consumables in state hospitals and no silver lining with the supply line hit by the dollar crisis, the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians (SLCP) stepped in to salvage the situation.
‘Join us to save the children of Sri Lanka – help us to give them their lives back’ was the plea of the SLCP, as a core group of Paediatricians closely studied every aspect of medicine supplies and donned the hats of project coordinators.
“The task was monumental,” says SLCP President Dr. Guwani Liyanage, explaining how they drew up lists of essential life-saving and other important drugs and got on the phone or fired off WhatsApp messages or emails to their wide network of friends, acquaintances and contacts not only across Sri Lanka but also the world.
She is being supported by the SLCP Council and Crisis Management Committee, while the WhatApp link with state paediatric units across the country keeps them updated on the stocks available and the needs.
And this timely intervention by the SLCP saw donations – monetary as well as medicines and consumables – amounting to over Rs. 100 million flow in from generous local and foreign donors including the United States of America (USA), Canada, United Kingdom (UK), France, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The SLCP has a local as well as a foreign currency account.
The SLCP’s assurances that all state hospitals in the country including the premier Lady Ridgeway Hospital (LRH) for Children would be helped on real-time needs to prevent duplication and wastage have paid off. It has also given a 100% guarantee of transparency and accountability through strict auditing.
Dr. Liyanage said that the SLCP links up the donors with suppliers so that the donors could buy what is needed and send it to Sri Lanka.
These donations garnered with the cooperation of pharmaceutical companies, donors and medical personnel include important devices; consumables such as blood gas reagents [vitally necessary for the blood gas machine maintenance of Intensive Care Units (ICUs)] and crucial drugs.
“The SLCP team burnt both ends of the candle for more than two months to ensure the survival of sick children,” says Dr. Liyanage, paying tribute to her team for their selfless effort.
For more information, please contact the SLCP on Phones: +94777508218 (M) or +94112683178 (Landline) or Email: paedsslcp@gmail.com
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