Wanted a policy change
The new Health
Minister has started work in earnest. He has identified two
issues that have to be addressed with utmost urgency. They are
drug shortages and dengue menace. We agree with the Minister
that they are priorities.
The Minister has also taken a vital decision to institute
Workers Advisory Councils (WAC), a concept proposed and even
tried out in the 1970s by the then United Front Government. By
establishing Workers Advisory Councils it would be possible to
get their cooperation for smooth functioning of the
administration.
Also as employees with a stake in running the institutions
under the Ministry profitably and efficiently the WACs would be
of immense help in reducing wastage and corruption. However,
much would depend on the personnel that would be elected or
nominated to these Councils. Obviously elected WACs would be a
better choice.
It has been seen from experience of the immediate past that
many problems in the health sector are results of faulty
administration. The multiplicity of trade unions and their
rivalries have also contributed to many instances of negligence
and maladministration. It was said a few months ago that
disciplinary action could not be taken against certain health
employees whose negligence caused a death of a schoolgirl after
administering a vaccine at Matara due to interference of trade
unions.
While addressing drug shortages and dengue epidemics which
are necessary priority items in the short term it is necessary
to make a strategic change in the policy orientation of the
Health Ministry. The traditional emphasis has been given to
curative medicine over preventive medicine. It is time to
reverse the order of priorities.
It is far better to give priority to preventive medicine over
curative medicine. It has been shown to be more cost effective
too.
This is urgent since non-communicable diseases are becoming
killer Number One at the moment. Among them Diabetes and
Cardio-vascular diseases take priority. All such diseases are
preventable and curable or manageable.
Much could change if dietary habits are changed and sedentary
lifestyle is changed to an active lifestyle. Hence public
awareness is key to controlling these killer diseases. Medical
opinion is that fast foods and lack of exercise are principal
contributory factors in the spread of such diseases.
Creating public awareness in order to prevent such diseases
is a task that could not be handled singly by the Ministry of
Health and Nutrition. It needs the participation of all
stakeholders. This requires a joint effort by health, education,
local government and Provincial Councils, sports
administrations. It is also necessary to incorporate the media
also in the endeavour.
It is extremely necessary to conduct awareness campaigns in
schools and Universities to inculcate healthy food habits and
instill the need of regular physical exercises in the minds of
persons at an early age. This would guarantee that at least the
future generations would be spared much of the suffering that
the present generations endure.
The health budget could be used more productively by giving
priority to preventive aspects of medicine for it will eliminate
the need for curative medicine to a great extent. The saving
could be used to develop the physical infrastructure much needed
to provide a qualitatively rich and modern health service to the
citizens.
A lesson in democracy
The British
people have put an end to the much praised model of democracy -
the two party system. The general elections last week had
resulted in a hung parliament. Neither the incumbent ruling
party the Labour or the leading Opposition party- the
Conservatives could form a government on their own. The
Opposition is holding talks to form a coalition.
Though any countries in the West and the East had
experimented successfully with coalitions the traditional
British voters have always preferred the two-party system. The
election result thus shows the electorate’s displeasure over the
conduct of both key parties in British politics. The Liberals
have proved themselves to be a voice that must be counted.
However, the differences between the policies of all three
parties are wafer thin. Hence, there would be a possibility of a
coalition. Though differences remain vis-a-vis relations with
the EU a coalition would take over power sooner or later. It
will, of course, have instability as a congenital defect.
It would be interesting to observe how the Mother of
Parliaments would behave in the coming years. Perhaps there may
be a lesson or two we could learn from it or it could learn from
us. |
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