news
Prof. Vitarana calls for a public approach based on intensive health education to get rid of Covid-19
It will be cheaper and easier to implement
By Saman Indrajith
LSSP leader Prof. Tissa Vitarana, the country’s most senior virologist, participating in the third reading stage of the budget debate under the expenditure headings of the Ministry of Health, said that it was not necessary to wait for a successful vaccine to be made and used to control the Covid-19 virus. It would also be very expensive. A public health approach based on intensive health education, and the active participation of the community would be cheaper, easier to implement and more effective even to get rid of the virus altogether from the country.
“We must first understand that this is a new virus to the world. There are many other types of viruses in the world which can cause alarm and even lead to epidemics, but there is a social immunity that has arisen against them with time and they tend to be milder. But for Covid-19 there is no such immunity. There is insufficient understanding of its behavior. It is still being studied and new knowledge of the virus is being discovered every day.” Prof. Vitarana said.
“It is in such a context that our Government faced the challenge and I must praise the way in which the Government handled that challenge. In the first wave, our experts identified separate clusters that had their origins from foreign sources. Action had been taken to identify the threat and to mitigate the damage in a scientific manner, so that Sri Lanka came to be among one of the few top countries in the world which handled the virus threat without letting it evolve into a pandemic”, said the renowned Virologist who was the former Head of the Medical Research Institute’s Virology department, and also worked as a consultant virologist at the Edinburgh City Hospital.
“But the virus gradually evolved itself. A PCR test is being used to make the diagnosis. The PCR test to identify the infection has a 70% level of accuracy. But PCR tests done against other viruses have a level of accuracy of more than 90%. This means that further research needs to be done to improve the capabilities of the Covid-19 PCR tests. About 30% of positives are being missed. That is the reality with regard to PCR tests. Further about 80% of those infected by the virus show no illness but can infect other people. Therefore, these are not easy conditions to control the spread of infection”, he said.
The World Health Organization has expressed its willingness to give vaccines to 20% of our population free of charge. The WHO can access the institutional capacity to ensure the safety and potency of those vaccines. These vaccines should be used to save the lives of elders and those who have other chronic medical conditions, for example heart patients. However, the main purpose of giving vaccines to a population is to make a country immune to the disease. To effectively stop transmission of the virus, at least 80% of the population needs to be immunized. This is a new vaccine and it is not known how long the immunization would last. And research is still been done on how frequently the vaccine should be given to obtain optimum protection. Under these circumstances the development of a program to vaccinate the entire population is unreliable and would be very costly. So the duty of the Government is to increase public awareness of the importance of following the three main health rules – the wearing of masks when other people are present, maintaining a distance of at least one meter, but better two meters, between oneself and other people, and frequent hand washing using soap, specially after touching any surface which has been touched by other people, Prof. Vitarana, who completed his PhD in virology from the University of London in 1971, further said.
He noted that there is a severe shortage of medicines in the Government hospitals and the cost is very high in the open market.
“I would like to suggest to the Minister that the way out would be to implement the Senaka Bibile Medicinal drug policy. Tenders were called worldwide to meet the requirement not only of the public health care system but also the private sector. Thus, the tenders called supplied the total national requirement. The tenders were called by the State Pharmaceutical Corporation using generic names of the medicine so that they could be bought at the cheapest prices provided their quality was ensured by getting certificates of good manufacturing practice by the supplying pharmaceutical companies”, he said.
This enabled all the Government hospitals to provide all the required medicines for practically every illness free of charge. The medicines were made available to the private sector too at the lowest possible prices. That was the result of the implementation of the Senake Bibile policy”, Prof. Vitarana added.
Author
- News Advertiesment
See Kapruka’s top selling online shopping categories such as Toys, Grocery, Flowers, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Clothing and Electronics. Also see Kapruka’s unique online services such as Money Remittence,News, Courier/Delivery, Food Delivery and over 700 top brands. Also get products from Amazon & Ebay via Kapruka Gloabal Shop into Sri Lanka.
Author
-
sdfsdf sdf sf sf sdf sf sdf
Author
PCoI on Easter Sunday attacks:
By Shamindra Ferdinando
Attorney General Dappula de Livera, PC is not bound by recommendations made by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (P CoI) into the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage, or presidential directives in that regard, according to authoritative sources.
They said that the AG couldn’t under any circumstances initiate legal proceedings until he had received the full PCoI report.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa received the PCoI report on Feb 1. The President’s Office delivered a set of PCoI reports to Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena on Feb 23, a day after the report was presented to the cabinet of ministers. The Island raised the matter with relevant authorities in the wake of a section of the media reporting the PCoI recommending punitive measures against former President Maithripala Sirisena, Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, IGP Pujitha Jayasundera, Chief of State Intelligence Senior DIG Nilantha Jayawardena, Chief of National Intelligence retired DIG Sisira Mendis and All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) leader and Samagi Jana Balavegaya MP Rishad Bathiudeen et al over the Easter Sunday carnage.
Sources pointed out that due to the inordinate delay in sharing the PCoI report with the AG, the department hadn’t been able to take preliminary measures required to initiate the proceedings. Sources said that a team of officers would take at least six weeks or more to examine the report before tangible measures could be taken.
With the AG scheduled to retire on May 24, 2021, even if the AG Department received the P CoI it would be quite a tough task to initiate proceedings ahead of retirement, sources said. However, in terms of the 20th Amendment to the Constitution enacted in last October, both the AG and the IGP could receive extensions beyond 60 at the President’s discretion.
Dappula de Livera received an Acting appointment as the AG a week after the Easter Sunday carnage whereas his predecessor Jayantha Jayasuriya, PC, was elevated to Chief Justice.
Responding to another query, sources said that the Attorney General two weeks ago requested Secretary to the President for a copy of the P CoI. However, the AG was yet to receive one, sources said. In spite of the AG not receiving a P CoI copy, the AG had instructed the IGP to obtain a copy of the report when he requested the police to complete investigations into the Easter Sunday carnage. The AG issued specific instructions after having examined police files pertaining to the investigations.
The IGP, too, hadn’t received a copy so far though some sections of the report were in the public domain.
Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage displayed at a live political programme on Derana a copy of the P CoI report he received at the cabinet meeting earlier in the day.
Sources said that the Attorney General’s Department couldn’t decide on a course of action in respect of the Easter carnage on the basis of a section of the report. In terms of the Commission of Inquiry Act (Section 24), the AG enjoyed significant powers/authority in respect of investigations; sources said adding that the Department urgently required both the P CoI report and police investigations report. The Attorney General’s Department has raised the delay in receiving a P CoI report amidst the Catholic Church attacking the government over the same issue.
Sources said that ministerial committee appointed to study the P CoI report couldn’t decide on how to proceed with the recommendations and the matter was entirely in the hands of the AG. Sources pointed out that the delay on the part of the government to release the report had received the attention of sections of the international media, including the New York Times. Public Security Minister retired Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera having met Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith at the Bishop’s House on Dec 8, 2020 said that the AG would get a copy of the P CoI report once the President received it. Minister Weerasekera said that the CID had handed over the relevant files after having completed investigations into eight blasts. Referring to the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) report on the Easter Sunday carnage, the former Navy Chief of Staff said that all such documents would have to be brought to one place and considered before initiating legal proceedings. Acknowledging that there could be delays, lawmaker Weerasekera said that on the instructions of the Attorney General a 12-member team of lawyers was working on the case. The minister vowed to expose the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday attacks. Investigations continued while some of those wanted were overseas, the minister said.
The minister acknowledged that the Attorney General couldn’t proceed without the P CoI report. Minister Weerasekera reiterated that once the President received the P CoI report, it would be sent to the Attorney General. The minister said that there were documents two to three feet high that needed scrutiny. The minister assured comprehensive investigation. The minister said that investigations pertaining to eight blasts had been completed and the reports handed over to the AG. However, the Attorney General had found shortcomings in those investigations.
Author
By Saman Indrajith
The Presidential Commission of Inquiry on the Easter Sunday bombings had failed to identify the mastermind of , the JVP said yesterday.
Addressing the media at the party headquarters in Pelawatte, JVP Propaganda Secretary MP Vijitha Herath said that the PCoI report had levelled accusations against former President Maithripala Sirisena, former IGP and head of intelligence for their dereliction of duty, shirking of responsibilities and not taking action to prevent the attacks and negligence. There were reference to the causes of the terror attacks and actions to be taken to avoid such attacks and the influence of extremist organisations. “However, there is no mention of the mastermind of the attacks, the handlers of the attackers and those whose interests the carnage served. It is also not mentioned whether there has been any foreign or local organisation behind those attacks. As per the PCoI report the attack took place as a result of culmination of extremism.
“According to the PCoI the extremist activities were a result of the prevailing political situation then. The entire nation was waiting to see who was responsible and who masterminded those attacks. The PCoI has failed to identify the true culprits responsible for the terror attacks. The report says that the leader of the suicide cadres killed himself in the attacks and it was a puzzle. That means those who are actually responsible for the attacks are still at large. The report does not provide exact details of the sources of the attacks. The PCoI had sittings for one year and five months. It summoned various persons and got their statements but it has failed to shed any light on the terror attacks. Everybody knows that the top leaders of the government and heads of security and intelligence establishments failed in their duties. Ranil Wickremesinghe was the second in command and he too is bound by the responsibility but the PCoI report fails to identify him as one of the persons against whom legal action should be instituted. The PCoI has treated Wickremesinghe and former President Maithripala Sirisena differently. We are not telling that this report is a total failure but we cannot accept this as a complete report. The PCoI handed over its report to the President on Feb 1. After 23 days it was sent to Parliament. Now, a copy of the report is there in the parliamentary library for the perusal of MPs.”
Herath said that the PCoI did not have powers to take punitive action. “It only has powers to name those responsible and recommend action to be taken against those named.
