Health Ministry neglects regional hospitals in Jaffna

“No new appointments of medical staffers for the thirty-seven regional hospitals in Jaffna district have been made in the past twenty years,” Jaffna District Director of Public Health Service (DPHS), Dr. R. Ketheeswaran said. Only 50% of the medical staffers needed in Jaffna Teaching Hospital (JTH), which is administered by the Ministry of Health, have been appointed in the past, the Director said.
 The 37 regional hospitals in Jaffna district which come under the administration of Public Health Service Department have been neglected by the Health Ministry where an acute shortage of medical staffers prevails for the last two decades, he further said.

This situation forces the 600,000 people of Jaffna district to seek medical treatment in JTH which is understaffed.
In most of the regional hospitals we have been forced to employ retired medical staffers, some of them over 70 years of age, Ketheeswaran said.
17 doctors are urgently needed to meet the needs of these 37 regional hospitals.
There are only 16 doctors serving in the regional hospitals while 88 doctors are needed.
Only a single Physical Health Inspector is in service when 12 are needed.
Similarly, in the posts of Registered Medical Practitioners, only 19 serve out of the 58 required.
Only 11 dispensers are in service while 28 are needed and only 2 Medical Laboratory Technicians are in service when 18 are needed.
Seven X-ray technicians are needed but only two are employed and when there is a need for 308 medical nurses only 70 are available.
While 351 Family Health Officers are needed only 141 are in service.
The reason for this acute shortage of medical staffers in the regional hospitals in Jaffna district is the disinterest shown by the Ministry of Health, Dr. Ketheeswaran said.
Government should take immediate steps appoint the needed medical staffers in the interest of the 600,000 population of Jaffna district, he added

journalist abducted in white van; later released

Unknown persons arriving in a white van abducted P. Ekaneligoda, a journalist who worked as Features Editor of Siyarata, official organ of the main opposition United National Party (UNP) and LankaeNews website, in Makumbura in Homagama police division in Colombo district on Thursday night, sources in Colombo said. He was subsequently released the next day.


The reason for the abduction is not known, the sources said.

Mr. P. Ekaneligoda has lodged a complaint with the Homagama police Saturday.

Sri Lankan court imprisons journalist for 20 years

J.S. Tissainayagam, a senior journalist and Sunday Times columnist, was sentenced to twenty-year rigorous imprisonment by Colombo High Court judge Deepali Wijesundara on Monday. Mr. Tissanayagam has been indicted under the notorious Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) and Emergency Regulations (ER), and was charged on three counts including printing and distributing the publication North Eastern Herald Monthly magazine.

According to the indictment, the veteran journalist had committed an 'offence' on two counts under the PTA and has committed 'acts of violence by inciting communal feelings by editing, printing or distributing the North Eastern Monthly magazine'.

Tissainayagam was also charged under the Emergency Regulations for collecting money for the furtherance of terrorism or specified terrorist activities.
Journalist Tissainayagam was detained on March 7, 2008 when he went to the Sri Lanka's Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) to look for his colleagues Jasikaran and Valarmathy. He was detained for almost six months without charges.
On August 25th he was charged with writing to incite 'ethnic disharmony'.

Continued confinement of innocent civilians may lead to renewed conflict: British Conservatives

100 days on from the conflict which blighted Sri Lanka for decades, William Hague has expressed serious concerns about the fate of the innocent civilians who are now residing in internment camps.

William Hague, the British Conservative Party MP and the Shadow Foreign Secretary on Thursday urged the Sri Lankan government to take all possible measures to prevent further suffering".
He called for UN and relief organisations to be given "full and unrestricted access to provide shelter, food, water, and medicine, and to oversee the screening process" – a call made all the more urgent by the onset of the monsoon season.
Hague also stressed the importance of the Sri Lankan government living up to its commitment to allow the people to return to their homes by the end of the year. "Their continued confinement in camps will simply sow the seeds of discontent and may lead to renewed conflict in years to come. This would be a disastrous setback for the country when peace has been so hard won."