Lankans lucky to have free health - Dr Mehta
Sri Lankans should be thankful to mother nature for the free health
service and free education. Most of the countries in the world do not
have these facilities WHO Representative in Sri Lanka Dr F R Mehta said.
Addressing the World Health Day celebration held at the Health
Education Bureau yesterday Dr Mehta said that Sri Lanka annually spends
US $ 85 million for procuring drugs and equipment and 23 percent of this
budget is spent on antibiotics and anti infectious drugs. This is almost
one fourth of the total budget. One hundred and thirty two items on the
list are related to antibiotics and similar things. Antibiotic
resistance has already become a burning issue in Sri Lanka and other
countries. In Sri Lanka people can buy antibiotics over the counter
without a prescription but this practice is not followed abroad.
Antibiotic resistance was discovered for the first time in the world in
1948, he said.
"It is a collective responsibility of all to tackle this problem. It
is not something that should be done by the Health Minister, doctors or
health professionals. It is up to the entire public. Using antibiotics
rationally is the key solution for this problem. Preventing communicable
diseases and improving immunity is also important to do this," he added.
Cosmetics, Devices and Drugs Regulatory Authority Director Dr Hemantha
Benaragama said that there are doctors who cheat patients and prescribe
antibiotics for no reason. NG |