Saline
stocks over : State hospitals left high and dry (11.05.2010 - The
Island, SL)
A stock of 600,000 bottles of saline was ready
for shipment in Mumbai and SLAF planes were to fly there to bring the
supplies, sources told The Island. However, due to some technical
difficulties involved in air clearance etc., from the Indian
authorities, the mission was postponed, according to the SLAF.
Stocks of saline in the Medical Supplies Division are sufficient only
for tomorrow’s release and unless new stocks arrive immediately, the
State-run hospitals will face a shortage of this life saving medicine,
health authorities warn. ..............................>>
More adult dengue victims (09.05.2010 - The
Nation, SL)
More adults than children succumbed to the
dreaded Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF) in 2009 and in the current year,
up to April end, 60% of those who died from DHF were adults.
“This gives us an important signal of the age pattern of the disease. It
has now shifted to adults. Whereas previously the victims of DHF were
mostly children between the ages of 10-15 years, in 2009 and the first
four months of this year, they were mostly young adults between the ages
of 20-25 years,” Dr. Hasitha Tissera, Consultant Epidemiologist told
The Nation. ...........................>>
Former Health Minister's frauds, corruption, commissions
surface on new Minister’s probes (09.05.2010 11:45 PM
SLT - Lanka-e-News)
The huge frauds, corruption and commission collections in the imports
and purchases of drugs and equipments to Govt. Hospitals during the
tenure of Office of the former Minister of health , Nimal Siripala De
Silva have been unearthed in a probe conducted by the new Minister
Maithripala Sirisena .
It was the State pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) which was importing
drugs for the Govt. Hospitals. In the past it was revealed time and
again that, though drugs were ordered, the relevant letters of credits
were not opened for their import.; and because the necessary funds were
not passed by the Treasury, there was an acute shortage of drugs in the
Hospitals. .............................>>
What a relief ! (07.05.2010 - The
Island, SL - Editorial)
It is a matter for happiness that
sanity has prevailed at long last and Mervyn Silva's resignation as
Deputy Media Minister has been accepted. The problem is now confined to
the 'highways'. (He has been appointed Deputy Minister of Highways.) Our
roads are dangerous anyway with so many asphalt cowboys around and his
appointment will not matter much!
Now, we learn that Mervyn resigned as Deputy Media Minister on Wednesday
itself but, when inquiries were made by the media, he, true to form,
chose to muddy the water. First, he said he had resigned and then he
retracted his statement claiming that he would function as both Deputy
Minister of Media and Deputy Minister of Highways thus prompting us to
fire a salvo at President Mahinda Rajapaksa. ..................................>>
State-run
hospitals face imminent shortage of saline (07.05.2010 - The Island, SL)
•
319 drugs in short supply, 40 items stuck at Colombo Port •
Treasury Chief suggests Gods be invoked to solve problem
State-run hospitals are likely to run out of saline within the next few
days unless urgent measures are taken to replenish the rapidly dwindling
stock.
The impending crisis came to light at a meeting attended by Health
Minister Maithripala Sirisena, Secretary to the Treasury Dr. P. B.
Jayasundera and senior officials of the State Phamasectical Corporation
(SPC).
Responding to a query by Minister Sirisena, an SPC representative had
acknowledged that their stock of saline would not last for more than
three or four days, sources said. ...........................>>
SPC
caused shortage of drugs at
State hospitals – Treasury
Chief (06.05.2010 - The
Island, SL)
Will the Parliamentary Watchdog Committee on
Public Enterprises (COPE) investigate SPC, which is alleged to have
manipulated the ongoing shortage of drugs at State hospitals to make
money?
Treasury Secretary Dr. P. B. Jayasundera has accused the State
Pharmaceutical Corporation bosses of causing a shortage of essential
drugs at government hospitals for their personal gain. An irate
Jayasundera did not mince his words when he alleged that some SPC
officials had received as much as 30 per cent commission for making
emergency purchases last year. ...........................>>
Being overweight from childhood 'doubles bowel cancer risk' (05.05.2010 - The
Island, SL)
Doctors warned that young people with a weight
problem should be encouraged to slim to help prevent developing the
often deadly disease.
Growing numbers of Britons are becoming overweight with almost one in
four adults obese, according to official figures.
Experts have warned in the past that these children are at a much
greater risk of developing a host of potentially fatal diseases
including heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Now new research shows that being too heavy from childhood also
significantly increases the chances of developing bowel cancer in later
life. ............................>>
Chemicals
in farming and cancer - by Ben Silva (04.05.2010 - Email)
It
as been reported in the media that thousands of innocent people are
unnecessarily dying in NCP of Sri Lanka, due to the consumption of
contaminated water. Many more will have their kidneys, thinking ability
and brains damaged due to consumption of water contaminated with heavy
metals such as lead and contaminated with toxic weed killers and
pesticides etc.
A recent CNN program indicated that farmers in Punjab are suffering from
cancer due to consumption of toxic water. ............................>>
Cadmium
deposits cause of kidney
failure in NCP - by Saliya Kumara Gunasekara (02.05.2010 -
LakbimaNews)
Arecent research carried out by Prof. Sarath Bandara
of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Peradeniya has
revealed that staples such as rice, grains, vegetables and curd produced
in the North Central Province (NCP) contained Cadmium deposits and this
is believed to be the reason for severe renal failure cases among those
living in the NCP.
The reason for the percolation of Cadmium is due to the use of imported
phosphate fertilizer, the research has found.
“Kidney failure is on the increase in the North Central region. Analysts
were of the view that the use of phosphate must be restricted in order
to solve this problem. If people begin to use Eppawala Rock- Phosphate, a
considerable reduction of Cadmium being mixed into the environment can
be avoided” says Prof Sarath Bandara. ...........................>>
