As the only State owned English daily newspaper with a history of 105 years, today we are talking about something very important for every human being. It is one’s health. The Buddha said the greatest wealth of human beings is good health. Today Sri Lanka’s health is facing the biggest challenge in its history because of the financial situation of the country and the ignorance of the citizens. President Ranil Wickremesinghe and his Government is pushing the country forward while some ignorant citizens are pushing it backward. This is why we are talking about this subject today.
COVID-19 has started to raise its ugly head once again here in Sri Lanka since the recent past and the media reported three deaths, seven cases and 25 new infections by the end of last week. The immunity of vaccination is gradually fading away by now. By now almost all Sri Lankans have very clearly witnessed what happened in the past in connection with COVID-19 and what saved lives. But it is very pathetic to see how they forget things very quickly and become ignorant overnight. The only way of saving lives from COVID-19 is following simple health guidelines. They are wearing a mask, keeping adequate distance from each other, washing hands with soap and water before touching over your shoulders, using a sanitizer whenever soap and water is not available. But by now wearing a mask has become something strange or funny in Sri Lanka. Now our health authorities can imagine very easily where Sri Lankans are heading for. 
Sri Lankan health is not only affected by COVID-19 by now, there are a few other burning issues. One such issue is imported Malaria cases. Only the Sri Lankan Armed Forces undergo Malaria blood test and follow the required procedure whenever they return to the country from a high risk country but no ordinary Sri Lankan voluntarily get done the required blood test for Malaria when he/she returned from high risk countries such as African countries, Central and South American countries, Haiti, some Middle Eastern countries and some pacific islands. The only way of preventing Malaria hitting Sri Lanka once again is testing blood of all who return from affected countries no matter whether they suffer from fever or not. The Government cannot do it by force. It is the responsibility of all Sri Lankans who return from high risk countries to volunteer to test blood.
Dengue is another burning issue as at present because it was reported that 63 employees attached to the Dambulla Hospital suffer from dengue and fogging has been limited by some health officials. We can play with anything but not with dengue. Fogging is the only way of killing adult mosquitoes. It is the responsibility of all Sri Lankan citizens to keep their private properties free from possible dengue mosquito breeding sites. But it does not end there. Health authorities have found out that it is building construction sites, schools and religious institutions have become some of the leading dengue mosquito breeding sites.
We all live in this country and we all need to protect our precious lives and the lives of our loved ones. Therefore, the responsibility is with each and every Sri Lankan. But unfortunately around 1,800 new dengue patients are being detected every week by now. We can see how responsible we are!
Rat Fever (Leptospirosis) is gradually becoming a plague here in Sri Lanka according to the health authorities. It is very pathetic to see farmers and all who deal with contaminated water do not take the few tablets available at MOH offices free of charge before commencing their work in paddy fields and contaminated water. Swallowing a small tablet or two that can be obtained free of charge from the MOH office before commencing work is very simple for anyone. If she/he works for a month, the medication needs to be taken once in every two weeks. But it seems no one knows this valuable piece of information.
It is the responsibility of all media and social media in Sri Lanka to educate the public on essential and urgent health matters because the Government cannot visit house by house forcing people to protect themselves. But unfortunately what the majority of the mainstream media and social media do today is highlighting various shortages of drugs, medical equipment etc. and showing how people are affected by such incidents. Media has forgotten that they simply can save thousands of people’s lives by publishing/airing a few short health messages related to COVID-19, dengue and Rat Fever etc.
Maybe such health messages do not bring money and fame to the media and that is why they do not do it. On the other hand, sometimes health authorities discourage the media from warning people thinking that it is making trouble for them and the Government but the real problem is not warning people on time. It can save billions of rupees, resources and especially the labour of health staff etc.
As Sri Lankans we all need to think about our own responsibilities at this crucial juncture before it gets too late. Otherwise, the country will face man-made ‘health Tsunamis’ similar to that of 2020 and 2021 before any natural disaster.
Add new comment