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| Thursday, 2 October 2003 |
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Letters | |
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Please forward your letters to [email protected] in plain text format within the e-mail message, since as a policy we do not open any attachments.
According to a news report a significant number of foreign doctors are practising in various private medical institutions in Sri Lanka, without the licence of the Sri Lanka Medical Council. The Health Ministry to which the SLMC had made repeated requests to arrest this situation, had not taken any action in this regard; and to counter this situation, the SLMC has requested the Government to amend the medical ordinance, to enable these doctors and their employers to be prosecuted. The SLMC has also pointed out, that the police who are vested with powers to arrest doctors practising without a licence, have not acted, as no complaints have been received. Now, whose responsibility is it, to make a complaint to the police? Does not this responsibility rest with the SLMC? How will the public know whether a doctor has a licence or not? Whatever that may be, let us ask, what the Medical Council has done about the 30,000 or so quacks 'practising' medicine all over the island? Do they possess the Council's licence to practise medicine in Sri Lanka? If not, shouldn't the Medical Council pressurise the government to have all of them arrested and prosecuted, as they are causing irreparable damage to the health of the poor of this country, who cannot differentiate between a quack and a qualified doctor? C. B. M. JOSEPH, Moratuwa This has reference to the letter by Zernie Wijesuriya (Sep. 25). The views expressed by Mr. Wijesuriya tends to create a wrong picture as far as the Buddhists are concerned and hence need correction. Buddhists, on an organised basis or otherwise has never attacked Christians for practising their faith. Buddhists have been very tolerant of other faiths and Buddhists and Christians have lived in harmony since independence from colonial rule, despite the fact that the colonial rulers, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British, persecuted Buddhists, razed Buddhist places of worship to the ground, plundered Buddhist property, and converted the Buddhists to their faith by force. Whist admitting that there was such forced conversions, he wants that to be forgotten history. That cannot be as lessons have to be drawn from history with a view to prevent a repetition. And if the present unethical conversions are allowed to go on, that too will soon be history and another will say the same things that Zernie Wijesuriya has expressed in his letter. Mr. Wijesuriya refers to 'intelligence' reports, perhaps those put up under his authority, on which no action was taken. The reports apparently may have been considered as 'unintelligent', tailored to meet certain ends and biased, which did not cover the reasons that led to a clash or two, because of which those reports were ignored and not acted upon. In our country, anyone has the right and freedom to follow his or faith without hindrance in full freedom or embrace any faith of choice. Buddhists and Buddhism do not consider Buddhism as the only true faith as other faiths do, and direct their activities on that basis. What the Buddhists and Hindus oppose is unethical conversions using foreign funds directing such operations on the poor sections of the community. What the colonialists did by the force of the sword is presently being done with the force of financial clout, as resorted to by over 350 NGOs throughout the country without restrictions. That is why MP T. Maheswaran, wants to bring legislation against unethical conversions, when others are dragging their feet over the problem. There is a difference between embracing a faith on one's own free will and the use of coercion through bribery and corruption for purposes of conversion. What is opposed is the latter. So the opposition is to fundamentalism based unethical conversions and not the practice of the Christian faith. There is no religious strife in the offing and Mr. Wijesuriya should not harbour any fears about it. I would as such invite Mr. Wijesuriya to join hands to see the back of the fundamentalists resorting to unethical conversions and thereby ensure that the circumstances that may lead to religious strife will not arise. NIRODHA GAMAGE, Secretary, Bambalapitiya Flats Buddhist Society Interim allowance for government pensioners A statement attributed to the Minister of Public Administration on pension anomalies relating to retired public servants appeared in a recent issue of the DN (10/9). The Minister must be appreciated for the efforts he is making to rectify the glaring anomalies pertaining to their pensions, which had been brought to the notice of both the previous as well as the present government quite some time ago. The anomalies affect most pronouncedly, I believe, those who retired prior to 1990. Instances have been cited in the print media in the recent past focusing attention on the wide gaps evident in pensions paid to public servants who retired prior to 1990 and those who did so thereafter. Most of them, in this category of pensioners, are now in their 70s waging a losing battle against the ever rising cost of living and the pressures of their relentlessly mounting medical bills. In these circumstances, I request the Minister and the Government to take necessary action to grant this particular category of pensioners i.e. those who retired prior to 1990, a substantial allowance - necessarily as an interim arrangement - until such time as the issue of anomalies is finally sorted out. It would be much appreciated if this matter is considered with the sense of urgency that it so much deserves, particularly in view of the fact that most of them are now in that 'departure lounge' awaiting the journey across to that great beyond! H.S. Rajapakse, Kandy Paying for health and education I agree with consultant Oncologist, Dr. Jayantha Balawardana's recent comments in the newspapers, stating that patients using the government run hospitals be charged nominal fee. This, coupled with a proper referral system will enable the Government to improve medical services and provide proper care to the sick from all walks of life. Patients using the so called free medical service are now paying much more to the growing number of private clinics to get required tests done as they do not trust the inefficient services of the government labs. Adding to their burden, poor patients are most often given prescriptions for purchasing drugs from outside, as the hospitals cannot afford them. It is not surprising that strikes plague the health sector today, as the state struggles to meet the demands of the thousands that throng the hospitals everyday, with little or no finances to draw on. The same holds for free education. A few selected schools in Colombo with full government funding and backing, cater mostly to affluent classes and future business tycoons and political leaders but charge nothing. Instead, poor schools in the remote areas that should provide education as a means of empowering the majority are left in the lurch with no teachers, books, and basic amenities. The Government must introduce reforms to levy appropriate fees for providing education to the "golden circle" of schools in Colombo as well as the Universities and use these funds to improve education overall in Sri Lanka. As Dr. Balawardana concludes, reforms require the Opposition and the Government to get together to introduce measures that will ensure sustainable and efficient services in health. The same applies for education, among others. Will Sri Lanka's leaders ever display such political maturity and measure up to the expectations of its citizens? SUSAN JOACHIM, Mount Lavinia. |
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