President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s decision to introduce a new Medical Act to bolster the nation’s healthcare system while also providing an additional Rs 30 billion to address the immediate medical needs is a timely exercise indeed which hopefully would see an end to all the ills affecting the country’s health sector. Certainly, the country’s health sector presently is screaming for a thorough shake-up with the ongoing crisis affecting almost all areas of the healthcare system. According to our main story yesterday, the proposed new Medical Act will be formulated within the next six months with the aim of addressing the shortcomings in the present Medical Ordinance and thereby provide better healthcare and protect the citizens’ well-being. The allocation of the additional Rs 30 billion to address the immediate medical needs, under the Provision to the Ministry of Health, is estimated to be sufficient for the next three months. Hopefully, all the shortcomings affecting the sector at present will be resolved in the meantime.
Admittedly the health sector is in total disarray today with the shortage of not just vital drugs but also the absence or malfunctioning of medical equipment in State hospitals that have even halted surgeries. The flight of doctors and medical specialists seeking greener pastures has exacerbated the problem. Alleged violations of procurement procedures relating to the purchase of drugs and also accusations related to their questionable quality too are continuing to dog the Health Service. The reported medical mishaps involving doctors that have resulted in several deaths too are bedevilling the Health sector. The situation is so dire that Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella is in the eye of the storm with even a No-Confidence Motion slated to be moved against him in Parliament by the Opposition.
Bringing new Acts or allocation of additional financial provisions will be of no avail if there are flaws in the whole administrative setup. Hence the need to appoint persons with unquestionable integrity to monitor the whole process. There is also the dire need to stem the brain drain where the Health sector is concerned. This can only be done by producing more doctors and giving them the necessary incentives to retain their services. In this respect, the move by President to increase the intake to the Medical College will help in the long run. But what is of paramount importance at the present moment is to prevent our doctors, especially the specialists from leaving. Ways, therefore, should be explored to ascertain if there are means to prevent the flight. The recent tax policy that allegedly started the exodus of not just doctors but other professionals and academics too should be re-examined. In fact, President Ranil Wickremesinghe at a recent discussion with a group of academics promised to make a reappraisal of the present tax policy in another six months to ascertain if some relief is possible. The time has, indeed, come for a re-examination of the issue. Of course, the tax policy is one of the prescriptions of the IMF to overcome the economic crisis and the Government is bound by its commitments. Still, alternative options should be sought if the brain drain is not to reach crisis proportions soon as has been warned by many knowledgeable sources.
Meanwhile, the decision by the President to allow recruitment and training of individuals with Arts and Commerce stream qualifications as nurses is certainly a positive step. We say this because many Arts graduates are today languishing without jobs with some even pushed to working as conservancy labourers for want of the required skills to fit into the present day job market. In fact, those following courses in the Arts stream in the universities should in parallel be provided training in those fields that would fetch them ready employment – preferably study courses allied to the technical field. As it is their stay in the university is wasted especially considering that the Government pays Rs 500,000 to produce a single graduate. Isn’t this money down the drain especially considering the large number of Arts graduates turned out by the universities?
It is also a known fact that it is the Arts graduates who have the propensity for violence in the campuses and are in the forefront of all student agitations since they have plenty of time on their hands having only to regurgitate the copious notes they have memorized, at the exams and nothing more. They also carry heavy baggage hailing from underprivileged families and depressed classes and are liable to vent their frustration on the others with better employment prospects before them. Their lack of knowledge of English or the kaduwa has only added to their inferior complex. It is such types that prolong their stay in the universities well after the stipulated duration and are responsible for the various protests, acts of sabotage and violence. Hence, the recent directive by the President to limit the period of stay of a graduate in the universities to the duration of his/her study course. Now, with the Arts graduates allowed to gainfully engage themselves presenting them with the scope of being gainfully employed it is hoped that these segments make full use of the opportunity and not be a burden to society and also themselves.
