A welcome step

According to Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena it has come to light that there are over 7,000 bogus doctors in the country and he has ordered his officials to carry out raids to ferret out these quacks. Fraudulent medical practitioners are not a new phenomenon in this country and there had been previous attempts too to smoke out these imposters. But from the look of things these steps seems to have had little effect and thus the Minister has done the right thing by ordering these raids.

If the figure given by the Minister is correct the problem has assumed serious proportions and there is no knowing how many victims have fallen prey to these fraudsters. Today unlike in the past the healthcare has become a burgeoning industry with its many ramifications. Needless to state it has also become a money-spinner to those involved. As a result we see many outgrowths to the mainstream hospitals and clinics that have sprung up like mushrooms all over.

It appears there is no proper methodology to find out if the personnel running these so-called health centres are in reality qualified. Not just the conventional medicine there are also numerous other entities such as acupuncture clinics and homeopathy treatment centres run by personnel whose credentials are not checked.

The Ministry should also keep tabs on those paramedical centres and laboratory services to ascertain if these are genuine ones and are being manned by competent staff. Because a wrong blood report or a reading can cause equal harm or even worse than at the hands of a quack doctor. The Minister's attention should also be focused on the Pharmacy trade where often wrong drugs are handed out to patients due to wrong reading of the prescriptions.

Needless to state the free market economy has swamped over all things hitherto held sacrosanct that even the noble profession of medicine has been caught up in the tide and today has shed its honourable position. The large number of imposters who have made inroads into the medical profession is an example of this.

Not just the fraudsters but even genuine medical practitioners are most often found wanting when it comes to upholding the hippocratic oath. Today doctors barely inspect their patients before writing out prescriptions in a hurry to keep other appointments or get to the next channelling service. The Minister should also enjoin these so-called genuine doctors to be more humane and compassionate when treating their patients.

The conventional medical sector apart the Minister should also draw his attention to the indigenous field that is today inundated by charlatans and fraudsters who offer bogus cures preying on their unsuspecting victims. Raids should be carried out those wayside beheth thel joints and so-called Ayurveda centres that offer their magical potions and concoctions for 'guaranteed cures'.

While a majority of these vedamahattayas are genuine and hail from traditional Ayurveda stock there are also those who exploit the gullibility of the villagers to ply their questionable treatment endangering the health of the patients. There is no question that a foolproof method should be devised to weed out quacks from the country's Healthcare system for the safety of the general public.

Kilinochchi wine

Kilinochchi which was the epicentre of destruction and devastation in the Eelam war not many moons ago with its land and vegetation scorched and earth marked with craters is today an entirely different prospect altogether. It has not only transformed itself into a bustling economic centre but is also gradually revisiting its past agriculture tradition and has today become a premier wine producer. What better demonstration of the enterprising spirit of the Northerner than to make vines sprout from a ravaged soil and garner economic gains from their harvests.

According to our page one story yesterday grapes cultivated in 50 acres of land in Kilinochchi is to be brewed into quality red and white wine. "A bottle of wine is sold at Rs 2,000 in Sri Lanka. When wine in brewed here it can be sold at 75 percent less," Agricultural Development Organisation Chief Executive Officer Keerthi Godagama said.

He recalled the time Super grade wine was brewed at the Tholagatti Mission Farm in Atchuvely by Christian pastors which was in high demand in Jaffna in the past. There is no doubt that the Kilinochchi wine will be as popular as all other products and delicacies that were relished by the people of the South in a by gone era.

Steps should also be taken to revive fruit cultivation such as the Jaffna mangoes that were famous in the South and also other trademark products that were enjoyed here with relish.

Now that steps have been taken to revive the palmyra industry one could expect the many palmyra based delicacies too that were lapped up here to once again arrive in the South.