Inside NEWS-PMC Malabe

Dear friends,
This is nothing regarding about my opinion whether I am for or against PMC.But this is something about the honesty of ministry officials and their goons.
Why the PMC ,Malabe is persisting in spite of all these challenges?
That is because the help it is getting from the ministry.Dr.Amal Harsha and Dr.Terrence are supporting this PMC because their daughters are students at the PMC,Malabe.
S B also is for this PMC just because he gets the sweet smell of money.
Let us see what happens......

Scholarship issue.........

Sixteen foreign trips in seven months
Nadira Gunatilleke
(Daily News)

Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena has decided to streamline the procedure of granting scholarships to Ministry staff. A member of the Ministry can go abroad on official scholarships only three times a year, following this directive, a Ministry spokesman said.

According to the spokesman, Minister Sirisena has taken this decision after considering the complaints received from health staff and studying the procedure of granting scholarships implemented by the Ministry.

In one instance a Health Ministry member had gone abroad 16 times on official scholarships during the past seven months.

The spokesman said that Minister had discovered that only a particular group of staff went abroad on scholarships. That group had obtained all the scholarships offered by the Ministry and other affiliated institutions.

According to the new system, one health staffer can go abroad on official scholarships only three times per year. Several Hospital Directors forwarded complaints to the Minister stating that they had not been granted any scholarships by the Ministry or related institutions despite their qualifications and experience, the spokesman said.

**************************
Dear Colleagues,
Seems to be a good bit of work...
Let's see the out come.
During the time of Siripala,his non medical henchman went for Dengue prevention seminars to WHO and one of our medical administrators went to Japan to get the training to repair "Lifts",replacing the engineer.
Unless all the scholarships are advertised well advance and transparency is maintained nothing will be materialized....

Is it back?

Lankadeep reports that the ministry is going to tighten up the regulations of the private medical institution act.

http://epaper.lankadeepa.lk/index.php?option=com_flippingbook&view=book&id=916

Once Mr.Siripala tried to put mediLcal officers even in to jail if they do not get registered under it's council.

While accepting the fact that the individual private practices also should be regulated, We can not agree to a political body( like that of the Private medical institution act) where the medical profession is not given the due prority.

This council of private medical institutional act should not come to the teritoty of SLMC to regulate the medical profession.

Few years back implementation of this act was stopped by the GMOA with the full blessings of the membership(Hope that at least some can remember the history)
There is high chance that the history getting repeated.

Should the GMOA do the duties of the Ministry?-“YES” /”NO”

There had been a debate over this issue for a long time.
Some may say that this should be of the lowest priority since the membership has got many more expectations than this.
But it is quit apparent that all the evil (and very rarely some good also)has come out of this place-“Suvasiripaya”
Everybody has to understand that this government institute is also equally corrupted (if not more than) as all other government institutions.
So, decisions are taken not in a “Doctor friendly manner” ,but based on political and personal agendas.
If the GMOA just remain as a body, which acts on “complaint basis”, will necessitate the use of a multi barrel attack instead of a simple shot gun to defend the profession.
This will then result a lot of public agitation and aggression against the “doctor population.
Hence the GMOA should be an “initiator” and a “promoter” of the steps taken for the betterment of the doctor population and a “monitor” of all the evil processes in hidden cells.
So the answer is “when and if necessary”.

A private message with public significance !

After our last post we received a message

අප වෙනූවෙන්- Gmoa-forus July 7 at 4:00pm
oyala gmoa eke veradi hoyanawada? ape veradi hoyanawada? hail to gmoa

Then we responded

Gmoaguardian Blogteam July 8 at 1:45am

We are searching, what is the fault and how can it be corrected,but not whose fault is that.
We know that there is a problem in the way how the present ex co runs the union.If GMOA ex co is not doing their duty properly,we do not wish to waste time and energy on criticising them.Instead we try to motivate a new set of people with correct pattern of thinking.

What we believe is that just by criticising GMOA ,It causes a negative impact on the young crowd who are willing to join.

"Union weda walate gihilla nikan katha ahaganne mokada?" sort of impression will help only the set of people who are in power at present since they will enjoy a state where there are no competitors.
This is the difference between you and us.

You have got all positive features except "BRAIN"

DO NOT HELP THE PRESENT EX CO BY DISCOURAGING THE JUNIORS.

**********************************
What we meant by "BRAIN" in the above conversation was,a proper strategy.
We will keep on helping all,who are interested in GMOA matters by providing a constructive criticism.
If and when the current ex co happens to do some thing good for the profession we will not hesitate to commend on it.

Who is responsible?

The NEWS regarding the GMOA election was not published at the GMOA official web site or their face book page.

The people who are responsible for that are the administers of those sites.
The web based forum called "GMOA FORUS" quiet ignorantly has asked that who is responsible and why are they doing so?

We believe that the hidden motive of this is to put the GMOA EX CO and the GMOA GUARDIAN in to the same group.

We hold no control over the activities of the admins of the GMOA official web site or their face book page. Instead of worrying about their (admins of the GMOA official web site and the face book page) irresponsible behaviour we tried to make you aware via our face book page regarding the upcoming GMOA election.

We would like to stress the fact the ordinary membership who read us regularly will understand that who we are(gmoa guardian-THE THIRD PARTY)

Provincial Politics (Trade union) and power sharing

For a long time GMOA branch unions have been asking for a provincial representation at the ex co.
The idea that the power is concentrated to the centre has led to this request. According to the supporters of the said argument, the institutional representation at the general committee is not sufficient for proper representation of the peripheral membership. Those who are in the centre also do not seem to be willing for power sharing.
Our opinion lies in a different plane.

Even the power that the general committee already posses has never been utilized for years, even at times when the ex co needs to be reminded of its duty.
Even those who are in the ex co (from “non Colombo” areas) also have never been able to spear head the ex co or contribute sufficiently to meet the demand of the periphery.
Decentralization of the power also has got its inherent pros and cons.
At the same time the arguments for restructuring of the GMOA branch union net work and a proper mechanism of power sharing also seem to be the need of the day when unity of the membership is concerned.

Let’s try to understand what others say!

Let wisdom prevail on the ex co/membership.

10 excuses of a medical officer to refrain from becoming a branch secretary

1. I do not think that I have got the ability to do it.
2. I do not have time to spend on these issues .I has got much more important things to do. If I have free time the last thing I do will be this.
3. I hate strikes. How unethical they are?
4. I have got my post graduate studies to do.
5. My PP is much more important to me.
6. I do not want to have problems with the hospital DMO/MS.
7. I do not want to create personal enemies. I want to be friendly with all...my colleagues, nurses, minor staff, RMP/AMPs, more than all, with the patients and the public.
8. What additional gain I will get after undergoing this much of unnecessary stress.

OK...OK......

9. Mother union is not receptive. I am frustrated.
10. I cannot be responsible for the foolish decisions of the mother union.
There may be many more....

Let’s have a dialogue.....

We failed but not for long

We started the dialogue at a time when the whole web space was filled with nonprofessional gossip. Even a few criticised us saying that we are the mouth piece of the present ruling group, many started believing that we are an impartial third party.

We talked about the qualities one should posses if he is going to lead the union. We further elaborated why the present ex co is in power .We told how to break the vicious cycle of frustration and how a branch secretary can lead a campaign in order to bring democracy to the union than slinging mud in the web space and further discouraging the individuals who are yet to come.
We repeatedly reminded that the general election is about to come and gave strength for a new impartial group.But we failed.
Nobody else contested and ruling party secured their power.

Even we are yet to see “new programme (may be a continuation of the old) of the known devil” We can assure you something,
That is we will encourage constructive criticism without using “minor staff” vocabulary.
We will not stop our effort of bringing a better group for the ex co seats next time.
Hail to GMOA (Not necessarily to the EX CO)

PEOPLE KNOW HOW WELL HEALTH SECTOR WAS RUN: NIMAL SIRIPALA

DATE_FORMAT_LC2 .May 31, 2010:

People of the country know how well the Health Ministry was run and there's no need to prove the obvious, for, people are already aware of it, says Nimal Siripala De Silva, Minister of Irrigation and Water Management.

Addressing a bala mandala meeting at the auditorium of the Passara pradeshiya sabha, Minister De Silva said that certain parties were attempting to create a dispute between him and the new minister of health.

“I have to say that the Minister of Health never criticized me. These are things which are being said by the media to create a dispute between us. We wont fall into those traps.

“The people of this country, the people of Passara, know how well the Health Ministry was run. The people in Badulla and Colombo know this. So you don't need to state the obvious to those who know the truth,” said Minister De Silva...............................

*************
Still trying to fool the public...!

Once upon a time.....

The below shown news paper article is important to us in many ways!

Firstly due to the fact that Dr.Uditha had been "our" GMOA secretary,once upon a tme.
Secondly,even though he is almost nonentity as a medical officer,how the name"Government medical Officers association "had been tagged at the end of Uditha's name by the minister friendly media .
Thirdly how low a medical officer can go in this "capitalist" economy!

******************************
Nimal says ministry has more scope

by Dilanthi Jayamanne

Newly appointed Minister of irrigation and agriculture Nimal Siripala de
Silva said yesterday that his ministry held more scope.
De Silva assumed duties as the New Minister of Irrigation and
Agricultural Affairs at the Mahaweli Authority. The new Health Minister,
Maithreepala Sirisena and Senior Advisor to the President and Minister
Economic Development, Basil Rajapaksa, the Deputy Minister of
Irrigation, S. M. Chandrasena, Deputy Minister Jayaratne Herath and
Governor present.
Those present included those from his new Ministry, his electorate,
Deputy Director General Public Health, Dr. Palitha Mahipala, Dr.
Uditha Herath, a member of the Government Medical Officers’
Association, the Chief of the Public Service United Nurses Union and
Ven.Muruththettuwe Ananda Thero.

Former Health Minister's frauds, corruption , commissions surface on new Minister’s probes

(Lanka-e-News 09.April.2010 11.45PM)
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 .

A Treasury Secretary who inquired into this situation recently , found that the Treasury has made the necessary arrangements with the Bank of Ceylon for the release of Rs. 6000 million for the import of the drugs.. On the contrary ,what the officials of the Health Ministry and the SPC have done is they have delayed placing the order for the import by claiming there is no money in the Govt. and purchased the drugs at uncontrolled prices locally paying high prices. It is a well known fact that when such purchases are made locally , huge Commissions are in store for them.

Under the instructions of the present Minister Maithripala Sirisena , already an internal audit investigation has been initiated. Meanwhile , those who negotiated these deals who are in an embarrassing situation due to these exposures now , are moving heaven and earth to influence the President to bring back Nimal Siripala to the Health Ministry, reports say.

The drugs which were ordered last January are now on the way and is very near to arrival. However , the receipt of these drugs were delayed because , priority was given to purchases of drugs in the local market without allocating the funds for the import , sources say.

It is reported that high ranking officials of the Health Dept. from the Director General down are to be given transfers on the conclusion that these frauds and corruption have possibly indeed occurred.

Hi, come and taste it.It’s delicious!

No loss of PP hours
No loss of family fun
No clashes with duty hours
No Fuel or transport cost
No revelation of identity
No personal or collective responsibility
Criticise them from top to bottom, you yourself can imitate as a crowd, and make a big storm.
Does not need to be factual or rational. Just gossip is more than enough!
But do not worry- No personal liability at all.
What you have to do is, just to sit at your desk top when day’s work is done (with a cup of hot coffee.)
This is Internet Trade unionism.

Cont.....

I was Proud to be a Doctor from the Colombo Medical Faculty

The answer to the question,Where are we really? came in a surprising way.It was from Dr.Lalith Perera from an article published in LANKA NEWS WEB.

**********************
I was Proud to be a Doctor from the Colombo Medical FacultyPosted
on April 27th, 2010

Dr Lalith Perera

This is neither a confession nor redemption. But at least telling the truth that was suppressed in my mind for a long time might put me at ease. I don’t know how to begin this article. Anyhow, I try to follow my memory lane. By writing this letter, I know my colleagues would hate me and denounce me as a traitor. I will be subjected to a long witch hunt. But I hope one day they would understand me and realize the point that I tried to highlight in here.

I was astonished when I came to know that I was selected to the Faculty of Medicine Colombo and the day I came to the Medical Faculty I felt like a king. We lookdown upon the Medical Graduates from Peradeniya , Ruhuna and Jaffna because we were the best. We were the cream. We were very much proud of ourselves.

I still remember when the Private Medical Collage issue came in mid Eighties we openly protested. I recall one incident when some students from the PMC came for a practical session at the Colombo Faculty; we ragged them and humiliated them. We organized meetings to educate our fellow students. Along with some of our Medical students ( Balasooriya , A.M Jayasiri , Prasanna Gunasena etc) we launched a poster campaigning against the PMC.

In 1996, the AMP (Assistant Medical Practitioners) matter emerged and we protested them. I encouraged some of my batch mates to continue the protest and we organized some strikes.

After some years, the Foreign Medical Graduates from USSR, Bulgaria, and Cuba came to Sri Lanka and started practicing as doctors. Again, we made a big protest to safeguard the Medicine in Sri Lanka. In 1997, I fully supported a poster camping against Foreign Medical Graduates.

Inside us, there was a rejection and disregard for the doctors who were not originally from the Colombo Medical Faculty. We considered them as inefficient and practitioners without high-quality knowledge.

In 2005, I went to USA and England and had the opportunity to visit some hospitals. Also I visited some Universities and exchanged ideas. Gradually I started questioning my self about our supreme position as the Doctor from the Colombo Medical Faculty. Are we the best? Or whether we were in a deception for a long time believing that we were the best and rest of others were buffoons.

My exposure to the outside world told me that we were living in a false dream for many years. I realized that there are other educational institutions much better and far advanced than us.

Recently I came to know that according to the international ranking the position of the University of Colombo has drastically gone down and it plays below 500 th rank . In the Asian university, ranking The University of Colombo is the last. Over the past few decades, our Medical Faculties have not contributed significant international research or publications. None of our Sri Lnakan professors were recognized in the international medical field. But in the other hand the Universities and in India, Nepal, Bangladesh had made remarkable impacts. Their university professors are invited to the international forums and they contribute a lot.

In UK I met a Sri Lankan Doctor who had passed out from the PMC Ragama and later migrated to England. He works as a Consultant Anesthetist in a prestigious Hospital in the United Kingdom. In the USA, I met a Doctor who had a Russian degree now serving as an associate Professor in Microbiology in one of the top Universities in Los Angeles. For many years, we fought with these people and chased them from our health system. Now they are doing extremely well in other countries giving their knowledge and skills to other people.

Now I have a guilty feeling that we blocked these people serving the Sri Lankans. Although we said that, we wanted to protect the free education and the health system of Sri Lanka most of my collages (including me) are much focused on private practice rather than the health system or the interests of the average Sri Lankans. This may be harsh but it is the truth. Most of my colleagues would say yes to this fact if they were questioned by their conscience.

Why we behaved in a superior mentality? Because we were not exposed to the outside world. All these years we were living like frogs in a deep well without seeing the outer world. We thought that we were the best, we disregarded other graduates and but finally I realized that we were wrong.

We fought AMP s disregarding their prolong service (over 125 years) to the public. When I was working in peripheral hospitals I have met skilled assistant medical practitioners, but I was unwilling to admire them may be due to my high ego.

Recently I did a small study, medical negligence in Sri Lanka starting from Priyani Soysa vs Arsakularatne case, the death of Granville Rodrigo, the death of Prabath Manawasinge etc. Shockingly I found that the most of the accused were local graduates predominantly from my Alma Mater.

Why our universities became more and more inefficient? I blame the university mafia that ruined the system. The university authorities were not interested in recruiting the best students as lecturers and train them as future professors. They gave priority to the family members, relatives and family friends. Finally, a bunch of clowns became top people in various departments and they did not do any intellectual work.

Our superior mentality made us dormant; we did not do any internationally identifiable research, any valuable publication or discovery. So we are lower than the universities in Africa.

I hope my colleagues and the present young generation would understand my point. Before denouncing me or criticizing me, I urge you to think what I have experienced. Still we are not too late if we truly work for the science leaving our ego issues apart we can win.

**************************************

We also 100% agree with the fact that the medical education in Srilanka has been unable to meet the demands of the new era.This issue is not limited to undergraduate education but also to the post graduate education.When compared to developed countries where some sort of post graduate qualification to each doctor is the norm,our situation is quite pathetic.

We have to keep in mind that the answer to any sort of external threat is the fortification of our own system!

Nurses threaten to strike

By Ishtartha Wellaboda(Bottom Line)
The Government Nursing Officers’ Association (GNOA) warned of a possible trade union action on May 12, the day that marks the International Nurses’ Day. They will resort to this action to protest against the University Grants Commission’s decision to cut the study period for the nursing degree from four years to three years.
According to Saman Rathnapriya, President of the GNOA, his association will push for discussions with the UGC, but if all else fails they will resort to a trade union action together with a number of other associations.
Meanwhile, UGC Chairman Prof. Gamini Samaranayake stated that they arrived at the decision in keeping with a Supreme Court order. However, the GNOA continues to protest against the UGC’s decision stating that the Supreme Court did no pass any order for the reduction of the degree’s time period but only said that the UGC should take a decision after discussions with the relevant parties.
The UGC published an advertisement in local newspapers on April 19 announcing the change in the time period for the nursing degree programme. The announcement read that the decision was the result of close discussions that the commission had carried out with relevant parties following the Supreme Court
decision. However, according to Rathnapriya they were left out of these discussions. “As the representatives for the nurses in this country we should have been included in these discussions,” he said.
Furthermore, he stated that the UGC had announced that students who applied for the degree programme already may change their order of preferences or may choose to leave the programme. According to the GNOA this is a clear indication that even the UGC does not believe in the effectiveness of reformed the programme.
According to Rathnapriya, the Sri Lankan nursing degree was formed according to international standards after closely studying similar degree programmes from reputed universities like King’s College UK and the University of Adelaide Australia. Therefore, one of the major drawbacks of this decision would be the possible threat that prospective foreign employees would face.
“It is clear that this decision will lower the quality of the degree beneath international standards. Therefore, the market value of our nurses in the international job market will go down,” Rathnapriya said. He added, “The country can earn four times as much by sending a professional abroad than sending a labourer. The cut back would do immeasurable damage at a crucial time when there is a huge demand abroad for health service workers.”

*************************
Dear Colleagues,
Let me update you about the newest development of the paramedical degree programme.
It is very interesting the range of replies we get regarding this.The replies range

from-
Nurses in srilanka do not need a degree.

Let them do any thing they want.

They also have a right for education.

Nurses degree is not a big thing for us.Does the GMOA know how much we suffer
in peripheries.

To- The present EX CO has come to power since they can work.Why asking for
our opinion?


I should take this opportunity to thank Peradeniya and Kandy branch unions of the GMOA for continuously following up this issue.The total credit should go to them.Their pushes made the EX CO to act.

But do you know where we are really!

Cont.....

Pluses and Minuses...........!

Our opinion on removal of the previous minister of health is complex. In spite of all the disadvantages of Siripala we could see some positive points of him being the minister.

Firstly, due to the presence of the common enemy the unity among the doctors was great. Even the ones with extremely different opinions on professional issues and even ones with different political back grounds had one thing in common. That was the universal hatred towards Siripala.

The second point was at times when our doctors /the union wanted to protest against Siripala, it was an easy task for it to be rationalized in front of media and the public. The bad past history of Siripala, made the task easy.

At the same time, if the new minister also tries to follow the same anti doctor behaviour of Siripala, the media and the public will then start looking at us suspiciously. They may think that both the ministers could not be wrong and the doctors are the real trouble makers. Some times Siripala also may come up and tell the public that the GMOA is not allowing to do anything in the health sector.

Even the attitude of the President towards the doctors may not be the same when notorious Siripala is not in the picture.

The main purpose of this post is to highlight that the universal remedy for all these aliments is –the UNITY.

Do not forget “Unite we win, divide we fall”.

This should be our cat !!!!!

What is the openion of the GMOA regarding the next Miniter of Health?

What would have been our answer!
As a trade union consisting of professionals, throughout the history of last 80 year or more we have come across many health ministers. While our primary obligation is towards our membership we have been constructively criticizing the authorities for a better heath care provision towards the general public. Our criticisms were impartial and were free of any political motives.
Publically in the past also we have revealed about our dream of having a better Minister of health.
Whoever comes as the minister we will deal with him accordingly.

In the future also, corruptions in the health sector (which are of public importance) will be revealed irrespective of the fact who is the minister.
“An insect in the drug vial will be “an insect” to us always.

Hence we do not bother too much about who is going to be the next minister!

Cats out of many bags!...Where is our cat...?

Health unions fear losing old foeSay Nimal
most suited than any to hold health portfolio
by Dilanthi Jayamanne

Several health sector trade unions which have long been at loggerheads with former Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva now claim that he is more suited for the job than most other former ministers.

When contacted by The Island, President of the Public Service United Nurses Union Ven. Muruttetuwe Ananda Thero said that they had no issues with him being reappointed.
"It would make no difference to us as we would continue with our work while he can continue in his capacity as Health Minister," he said. But the Ven Thero predicted a change. "We have information to that effect," he said.

The President of the Sri Lanka Association of Government Medical Laboratory Technologists, Ravi Kumudesh, was of the view that changing the Minister would be unhealthy for the Ministry. "The change would only increase the issues. De Silva had his plus and minus points as Health Minister. He lacks diplomacy when dealing with trade unions and that was the main reason why trade unions disliked him. But on the other hand he was impartial to all trade unions and treats them alike," Kumudesh said.

A Health Minister should be able to take straight forward decisions for the good of the public, especially on issues which had been mishandled. The former Minister had the potential to do so. As Minister he did a lot to increase the human resources in the health sector through recruitments and education for nurses, and other allied health sciences (mainly by commencing the controversial degree programme for Allied Health Sciences). A regulatory Act was brought in for Private Health Institutions and several other health policies were also introduced or were on the verge of being introduced by him, Kumudesh said. However if the post changes hands the next person to take up the portfolio should be someone who would not just pander to the unions in hope of gaining popularity but should be someone who is able to take up the responsibility, challenge and work for the public, he said.

President of the Government Nursing Officers’ Association, Saman Ratnapriya reiterated that if there was to be a complete change in the Cabinet it would be good. But, he pointed out that one outstanding plus point in favour of the former Health Minister was that he was unbiased and never favoured any of the health trade unions. He also had thorough experience and knowledge in handling the Health Ministry. So, who ever gets appointed would have to have the same degree of experience and knowledge to assume duties like de Silva, he said.

However, President of the All Ceylon Health Workers Union, Gamini Kumarasinghe held a different view. He accused de Silva being the cause of the deterioration in the free health sector. "Being at the helm, he lacked the skills of administration to carry out his duties as Health Minister. He was not even able to handle health workers at grass root level".

He blamed De Silva for not being able to implement the Senaka Bibile drug policy and several patients losing their lives due to deficiencies in the Health sector.

"But unfortunately we don’t believe that there is a single person in the government who can take on the responsibilities of being the next Health Minister," he opined.

The Government Medical Officers Association could not be contacted for comment.

******************************
OPEN FOR YOUR COMMENTS!

The next Minister of Health!- Known devil,known angel or an unknown......

Dear Colleagues,
According to the new developments in the political circles in Colombo,names of three UPFA heavyweights have been nominated for the post of Minister of health.They are the names of Mr.Siripala,Mr.W D J Senevirathne and Mr.Basil Rajapaksha.

Mr.Siripala is most likely to loose his post while Mr.W D J Senevirathne IS MOST LIKELY TO GET APPOINTED.But if Mr.Basil is not appointed for the post of Prime minister as most predict he may also turn back to this ministerial post.

But who ever gets appointed for the above post,what ever the benefits we get for our membership will depend on,how strong our arguments are on a particular issue.Our arguments need to be rational, and membership friendly.At the same time they should be backed by a strong trade union muscle power.

So,Dear Colleagues this is your time- to contest for the upcoming GMOA election or at least vote for the group whom you think will represent you best.

The Saptha Aparihani Dharma ,GMOA and the profession.

Dear Colleagues,
After observing the new developments in the profession during the past few weeks (eg-abusing(yet to be proved) of female doctors by their own colleagues) and after witnessing the immature satisfaction a few get with the low participation at the last GMOA meeting We thought of quoting the 'saptha aparihani dhamma' for the benefit of our viewers.

Saptha Aparihani Dharma include the following.

* Having meetings and assemblies frequently.
* Rulers assembling in harmony, conducting their affairs in harmony and dispersing in harmony.
* Adhering to the accepted ancient noble traditions and not extirpating the accepted established norms and traditions by introducing new laws.
* Respecting the elders, worshiping them, consulting them, and believing that they must be listened to.
*Respecting and protecting the women folk and not living with them forcibly or molesting them.
*Paying respect to all internal and external places of worship, paying homage to those worthy of veneration and continue to make spiritual offerings traditionally done.

Lord Buddha preached that a society which follows these concepts can not be defeated.

It is up to each individuals of our profession to think how far these concepts are applicable to us and to our profession.
This is very important in the eve of a general election of the GMOA.
Thanks.
(This is open for discussion)

Kissing doctor in trouble

By Kanchana Kumara Ariyawansa(Daily Mirror)

A male doctor who had allegedly engaged in forcibly kissing and harassing female doctors at the Dambulla Base Hospital had been reported to the Police and Hospital Authorities.

However, Director of the Hospital Iresha Fernando said she could not comment on the matter as an inquiry was pending.

It is alleged that the said doctor had in the habit, forcibly kissing female doctors who come to the wards from quarters to attend to emergency cases in the night.

He was however identified recently when he tried to kiss a junior female doctor who was on her way to the hospital ward from the doctors’ quarters.

According to reports, the female doctor had shouted for help and other employees who had rushed to the scene had managed to catch the Romeo red handed, who happened to be a doctor of the same hospital.

An inquiry was begun on the matter after complaint was lodged with Dambulla Police and the District Medical Officer.

*****************************
Dear Colleagues,
This is not the first time we highlighted the fact that the behaviour of Medical professionals has become a hot topic for the public.It is sad that a few individuals who are among us are fueling media by not being mindful of their own behaviour.

NATO-No Action Talk Only

Report on Cuban BTI bacteria submitted
By Ishtartha Wellaboda(Bottom Line)

The technical committee report on the Cuban BTI bacteria is scheduled to be handed over today. Speaking to The Bottom Line, Acting Secretary General of the Health Ministry, Dr. Nihal Jayathilake said that once the report was handed over to him, the Ministry would forward it to the tender board for further approval.
He also added that the Health Ministry has already allocated over Rs.85 million out of the 500 million that is set aside by the Health Ministry’s budget to battle dengue in order to purchase 30,000 litres of the chemical.
The technical report is compiled by a special committee led by the Deputy Director General of Public Health Services, Dr. Palitha Mahipala and other qualified doctors.
Once the bacteria is imported, the Health Ministry hopes to conduct a series of trial field tests where they will introduce the bacteria to water tanks and water gathering cisterns in the Akurana, Kandy, Tangalle and Gampola areas.
Health officials believe that dengue mosquitoes have been breeding quite easily in these areas inside special cisterns that are used to gather and store water. Since general water supply to these areas are less frequent, people use open tanks to gather and store water. They plan to test the bacteria on these water storage systems in order to test the bacteria’s capability to fight dengue in Sri Lanka.
However, some health officials have already warned that applying the chemical to every possible breeding place of dengue mosquitoes like used tins and coconut shells might prove to be impractical.

**********************
Dear Colleagues,
What is the role of the GMOA in issues related to the public.Should we intervene or keep away from such topics?
What is your opinion ?.

Strike by government nurses postponed

(Bottom Line)
The strike by government nurses due today was temporarily postponed due to the circular issued by Elections Commissioner into consideration.
Speaking to The Bottom Line yesterday the President of the Nurses’ Association Saman Rathnapriya stated that they had come to this decision respecting the orders issued by the Commissioner of Elections.
In a special notice issued yesterday Rathnapriya stated that the association expected to stage a protest in front of the Health Ministry pressing for an immediate response to the impending problems faced by nurses. They have demanded immediate solutions to the following six issues faced by members of their association:


1.Reforming/ recruiting procedures, establishing the study period for the
nursing degree as four years.
2.establishing a five-day week.
3.establishing a professional salary.
4.Rs. 3,000 accident benefit.
5.initiating Grade 1 promotions within 11 years.

In the statement Ratnapriya has also urged that his association decided to strike today because the government had failed up until today to carry out the promises that were ensured to them after their talks with the authorities in 2008.
(IS)
****************************************
Dear Colleagues,
It is a fact that we should have our own plans for our professional development and welfare but,Just look at their demands.What do you think about them!

WHO to train our doctors for the first time

Tuesday, 16 February 2010(GDI)
The World Health Organization is considering providing training to Sri Lankan doctors. This facility is normally confined to doctors from the developed countries.

The Programme Manager of the South East Asian Regional office of the WHO said that this was decided after taking the quality improvement in local health sector into consideration.

Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition Nimal Siripala de Silva had earlier made a request in this connection

***********************
What on earth is this?

Another election result!

http://www.col3negoriginal.com/watch.php?id=3388


We were waiting patiently till the election fever go down to inform you about a special election result. We were a bit reluctant to reveal it during the election itself because of the fear of getting tagged ourselves as a group with political motives.

This is the news of Dr.Senarathne of the NHSL who was identified by himself as a strong UNP supporter eventually supported General Sarath Fonseka, publically. Even many weeks before this public appearance he was brave enough to go from ward to ward asking the support of the workers. The people who know him well know that during the times when elections are not there he had significant relationships with Minister and his officials.

Some body may say “Let him have his politics. That cannot be an obstacle to his professional /trade union life!”

Let me educate you on this matter.
Dr.Senarathne who is much better known as “Welfare Senarathne” was closer to a politician than to a professional. Many, who have worked at national hospital, may agree with us.
It was widely accepted even among his rivals that he is a person with some organizing capacity. But the way how he led the NHSL GMOA branch union and the welfare association was quite questionable. We do not wish to discuss his personal behavior or the allegations which have been leveled against him regarding financial misappropriations.
But most importantly when he was in power at the branch union or the welfare at NHSL his anti GMO behavior was quite evident.

1. The main problem was his mere presence made the GMOA vulnerable to spying. Even the security of the people who expressed their views at the meeting also was at threat. Basically the GMOA General committee became an unsafe place.
As time goes the GMOA learned to take the benefit of his presence to send information to political circles. When some crucial thing (usually the opposite of the real intention of the GMOA) was discussed at a forum where he was present the information leaked to the higher political circles without any difficulty and they got wrong information about GMOA strategies.

2. Secondly He never facilitated trade union actions at the National hospital at times when he was the branch secretary. He did not believe on individual responsibility of implementing collective decisions.

3. The biggest damage done by him to the profession was done quite recently, that was when the issue of internship came up,
He took the lead in misleading the juniors who are new to the system.
He facilitated the split between the junior batch and rest of the profession on this matter which he should never have done as a senior.
With the help of his beloved friend Bellana, he took the junior batch on a ride while the enemies of the profession were laughing at us.
Something which should never happen happened.
The GMOA went on a strike against its own members (even they are misled) although it was shown as a protest against the ministry.
The headless junior batch issued a press release which was prepared with the inputs of by Dr.Senarathne and faxed to the media with the blessing of the Minister.
This was a black mark in the history of the GMOA.
People started asking whether the GMOA is split.
4. He was a main barrier for the formation of an opposition against the present ex co.
Since the present Ex Co always had the benefit of showing the membership the known devil, which made members to vote the present Ex Co in order to defeat Senarathne.
PEACE AT LAST.
Dr. Senarathne at last found where he should be!!!!!!!!!!
He has joined the politicians and will not return back to mislead the juniors.
A profession has got another chance to make a new set of leaders devoid of scars and having the capacity to play the role of a strong opposition to the present Ex Co.
Let’s get together and wish Dr.Senarathne of National Hospital “all the best in his new carrier as a politician”
Thanks.


This discussion is open for your criticisms!

Cutting Siripala's wings or providing him a escape route?

NEWS-Cabinet appoints a 15-member medical team
To curb vector-borne diseases including dengue

04 FEBRUARY 2010 05:48(Daily Mirror)
By Sandun A. Jayasekara and Olindhi Jayasundere

The Ministry of Health said yesterday that the Cabinet has approved the appointment of 15 medical officers to curb vector-borne diseases including dengue as part of the ministry’s efforts to eradicate infectious diseases.

Health Ministry Deputy Director General, Dr. Palitha Mahipala said although the dengue epidemic was now under control in most parts of the country, it was still prevailing in the Jaffna, Vavuniya, Colombo and Gampaha districts.

He added that an inspectoral co-ordination and collaboration committee has been appointed by the Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunge with the participation of the Health Ministry, the Education Ministry, the Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government and other Ministries for this purpose.

“Infectious diseases were at a peak last year mainly due to adverse weather conditions. However, we must ensure that these diseases remain under control and therefore we need to be careful,” he said.

“This will further ensure that the spreading of the disease will reduce further,” he said. Dr. Mahipala said a number of machinery and equipment, insecticides have been bought by the Health Ministry to control dengue and other contagious diseases.

He added that medical experts specialising in the field have also been appointed for this purpose.

Dr. Mahipala said there were a total of 3,872 cases of dengue in the country in December 2009 and a total of 3,336 cases of the disease in January 2010. He added that the total number of deaths due to dengue last year was 345 and this year the number of deaths is 20.

***************************************
Dear Colleagues,
What are the under lying possibilities?
Is this a step taken with a good intention OR ..........?

Health Ministry hands over IDP healthcare to northern officials

by Dilanthi Jayamanne

The Health Ministry will hand over the task of providing healthcare services to internally displaced camps in the Vanni to health officials of the Northern Province with effect from tomorrow (01).

"We will be pulling out", Health Ministry spokesman said. "Health officials of the region will take over".

He said the Cabinet had only given approval to the Ministry to maintain services at the camp for six months following the arrival of the internal displaced to camps in Vanni last May.

The spokesman said there were only around 95,000 internally displaced persons still remaining in the camps. The Ministry spends over one million rupees per day on sustaining the services in these camps. The health workers have to be paid their overtime, batta and transport allowances as well as funds for their food.

The spokesman said the medical equipment in the camps would be handed over to NPC Governor, Maj. Gen. (Retd) G. A. Chandrasiri to be used at the Chettikulam Base Hospital.

Nurses will not be a problem as they were from the Vavuniya Nurses Training school. Government nurses arrived to assist at the camp as soon as the displaced started coming into Chetticulam during the humanitarian operations last May. Since then nurses from the training school in Vavuniya took over.

There are approximately 105 doctors serving at the camps. Forty Five of them would be left to serve the remaining IDPs while the others would be transferred to hospitals in the North and the South of the country according to the merit list, the spokesman said. The Ministry would discuss the transfers of these doctors with the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) before coming up with this year’s transfer list.

Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva has already issued instructions to Acting Health Secretary Dr. Nihal Jayatilake to prepare the merit list of the doctors who are to remain at the camp during a review meeting held last Thursday.

The remaining medical staff would also be given replacement in other hospitals in the country. He said the ambulances would also be handed over to Northern Province health care services.

How the health has become a major issue at the election stage!

Dear Colleagues,
This is just to show how the bad management of health related issues has become a major political issue at the up coming Presidential election!

"The situation is completely under control "-Is this true or is it part of a political campagin?

By Cassandra Mascarenhas(Sunday Leader)

The outbreak of the AH1N1 virus better known as swine flu in many parts of the country in the latter half of last year has resulted in over 40 deaths islandwide. The virus spread rapidly amongst school children, forcing schools around the country to temporarily close down, causing much havoc within the public, sending anyone with flu-like symptoms rushing to the nearest hospital out of fear that the virus had been contracted.

The epidemic was brought under control however, with hospitals being equipped with special units to handle patients with swine flu, vaccines brought in from various countries to be administered to the patients and the public being informed of what measures should be taken to avoid contracting the virus.

Although there is still a possibility of being infected, the preventive measures taken by the Ministry of Health have worked as the number of cases, which rose rapidly last year, has now fallen. “The situation is completely under control and the number of cases have dropped drastically. More than 90% of the hospitalised patients have now returned home”, assured the Head of the Epidemiology Unit, Dr. Paba Palihawadena.

****************
Dear Readers,

Sometimes professionals can issue statements in favour of a political movement while some genuine statements can be wrongly considered as partial.Which one is true about the above?

Beyond "Dirty Cartoons and double games!"

Few days back our face book page demonstrated an image, as an eye opener.As most of you have already seen, it was from one of the links (dedicated for political gossips)in infolanka web site. It was an image developed based on a vial containing foreign material, in order to attack the minister of Health and then to the present government.

It raised mixed reactions from the readers, when they saw this image.

Some were with the view that we as a profession should go an extra mile to chase this minister away.
Some had the view that this is a part of the “double game” of the GMOA.

Any way the basic idea of initiating a dialogue was successful.

We hope that it is not forgotten to many of us that the tradition of revealing health related issues including low quality drugs specially those containing waste substances was initiated by one of the assistant secretaries of GMOA (Dr.Upul Gunasekara.)
That propaganda later fueled by many others has now gone to the extent of black listing some Indian drug companies! .This shows the power of information and the extent a dialog can shape up the final outcome.

There is no doubt that the elimination of the present minister will benefit the whole health system, but it will not eradicate all the problems faced by our membership.As the authors of this blog we share a different view on finding sustainable solutions to our professional issues ranging from transfer matters, replacements, grade promotion and unacceptable working environment to salary restructuring
They need much more intellectual dialogue and consensus within the profession. Hence the prime duty of the EX Co of the GMOA should be to mediate this in order to develop and strengthen our own system.
If not even a new minister comes our profession will be still vulnerable to his dirty tactics!

Nurses to demand for solutions to issues

By Hemanthi Guruge(Daily Mirror)
The Government Nursing Officers Association (GNOA) said yesterday it would stage a protest campaign today in front of some hospitals around the country including the North and East demanding solutions to the issues of nurses.

The Convener of the GNOA, Saman Ratnapriya told the Daily Mirror they would stage a protest today in front of the Colombo National Hospital, Karapitiya, Kandy , Polonnaruwa, Jaffna and Trincomalee hospitals urging government to resolve the issues.

He said they were demanding Rs 3,000 as risk allowance for all nurses to establish a professionally acceptable salary scheme for all nurses, to establish a four-year nursing degree and to create necessary changes for recruitment procedure.

He noted they would stage a token walk if the government does not solve issues of the health sector within a short time. The token walk would most probably be held before the Presidential Election, he said.

The GNOA informed the Health Minister, Health Ministry officials and the Salaries and Carder Commission about the issues of the nurses, but so far they had not take any action to resolve these issues, he alleged.

GNOA launched a campaign of protest on December 30, last year in front of fifteen hospitals around the country; thereafter they took a decision to stage a one-hour protest urging government to resolve the issues of nurses.

*******************************
Dear Colleagues,
We have to be vigilant about the activities of Saman Rathnapriya in this volatile political environment,because there is chance of him to "fish in troubled water".