Crucial medical research on kidney disease

Nimal WIJESINGHE, Anuradhapura Additional district group correspondent

The National Health Services Fund jointly with the World Health Organization’s team of experts including Dr. Santhi Mendis are engaged and involved in a series of crucial medical research at world class, distinctive medical laboratories to discover the definite reason which causes the renal diseases, said the Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva.

He was delivering the key-note address at the inauguration of the Anuradhapura Renal Diseases Treatment, Prevention and Research Centre in the Anuradhapura Teaching hospital premises on March 21.

The Sri Lanka Kidney Foundation with the patronage of Healthcare Ministry, the North Central Provincial Council, Local and Foreign funding agencies and philanthropists has pioneered in the task of building the six storeyed institute and furnishing it with required modern medical appliances at a cost of Rs. 285 million.

The centre is expected to treat patients in the North Central Province, and in districts such as Mannar, Vavuniya, Trincomalee, Kurunegala, Puttalam and Matale.

The Minister said that some print media and several doctors’ unions were always pessimistic about the health promotion services provided by the Government.

They were misleading the masses. At Anuradhapura Teaching hospital there were 1200 beds, 250 doctors, 652 nurses and 600 minor employees.

As such there was one doctor for four beds and a nurse for two beds, the Minister pointed out.

He said that the Japan through JICA has been endeavouring to donate a new hospital building with all facilities at a cost of Rs. 25,000 million to Anuradhapura Teaching hospital and also the Italian Government has pledged to assist in upgrading the Padaviya hospital.

Minister de Silva said that a conflict between two fractions of physicians has delayed the opening of a Renal diseases treatment centre built at a cost of Rs. 4,500 Lakhs at Maligawatte, in the Western Province.

Negotiations have proved futile and as there was no other alternative, he would make arrangements to transfer the valuable medical equipment at the particular centre to Padaviya hospital for the benefit of kidney patients in the area, he stated.

He lauded the endeavours of the doctors such as Tilak Abeysekara and Beligaswatta, who have dedicated for the comfort of the kidney patients.

The physicians in this calibre should be treated as ‘Gods’ in the doctors community and wished that medical students should follow such noble characters.

North Central Province Chief Minister Berty Premalal Dissanayake said that the new centre was equipped with 30 dialysis machines and 30 beds capable of treating 90 patients per day.

He said that until such time the medical experts have discovered the definite reason for spreading kidney diseases in North Central Province, the Provincial Council would raise the medical facilities at the hospitals situated in disease spreading areas to prevent more people being affected.

North Central Governor Karunaratne Divulgane said that the six storeyed building would remain a symbol of compassion, love and kindness of President Mahinda Rajapaksa towards the innocent people in Rajarata caught in the menace of renal diseases.

Dr. Tilak Abeysekara Secretary of the Kidney Foundation paid high tributes to late Lakshman Kadirgamar and late the former Governor of Central Province Monty Gopallawa for their great and yeoman endeavours to expand the medical services to save people from kidney ailments.

A philanthropist in Anuradhapura Vibuthi Gunasekera and his family donated a scanning machine to the centre worth Rs. 04 million and medical equipment and cash donations worth Rs. 05 million followed.