Five doctors attached to the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital have been diagnosed with the A-H1N1 virus

(From Daily Mirror)

By Indika Sri Aravinda


Five doctors attached to the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital have been diagnosed with the A-H1N1 virus, hospital sources told Daily Mirror online.

Meanwhile doctors attached to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital have warned that they will be compelled to stop work if protective masks are not provided to them owing to the flu outbreak.

The ICU doctors claimed that there was a shortage of protective masks for their use and as a result they were in danger of contracting the A-H1N1 virus. They added that the hospital did not have a separate ward like other hospitals for the patients with the A-H1N1 virus and because of this other patients were also in danger of being infected.
***************
We think there is a necessity of a timely action from the side of our profession.

Minister Welcomes GMOA Presidential Probe Committee Call

Saturday, 28 November 2009 15:12
(Colombo Lankapuvath November 28) –

Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva welcomed the Government Medical Officers’ Association’s (GMOA) request for the appointment of Presidential Health Investigation Commission.

A Health Ministry spokesman said yesterday (27), the Minister had accepted the urgent need for such a commission by stating that a majority of doctors holding top positions in the ministry and hospitals were members of the GMOA. In fact, 99 percent of the Hospital administrators were GMOA members.

A majority of key officials in the Health Ministry including the Health Secretary, who is the chief of the Cabinet appointed tender board tasked with supervising the purchase of drugs were members of the union.

The GMOA requested the appointment of the commission stating that substandard drugs nearing the end of their shelf life were being imported at a cost Rs. 15 billion annually.

The committee of intellectuals who made recommendations on drug requirement of quality drugs and the companies from which drugs should be purchased were lecturers who had taught GMOA members
*************************
Dear Colleagues,
Irrespective of the out come of the committee which is going to come,one thing is quite apparent.
That is, this minister is consolidating his position well.With the black listing of a few Indian drug companies he moved a step forwards.With this committee he definitely will get his dirty hands washed off.
Thanks to some medical administrators and some consultants in the drug evaluation committees who are depending on drug reps,minister has become a super hero.(Shame on you!)
With the volatile political environment in the country this minister may not be removed even at the next cabinet reshuffle!

වාරියපොල දැරිය මියගියේ සෞඛ්‍ය වෛද්‍ය කාර්යාලයේ සහ කුරුණෑගල රෝහලේ නොසැලකිල්ලෙන් ඇමැති නිමල් සිරිපාල

අජිත් අලහකෝන්

රුබෙල්ලා එන්නත විෂවී වාරියපොල ශිෂ්‍යාවක්‌ මියගොස්‌ ඇත්තේ සෞඛ්‍ය වෛද්‍ය නිලධාරි කාර්යාලය සහ කුරුණෑගල ශික්‍ෂණ රෝහලේ නොසැලකිල්ල නිසා බව සෞඛ්‍ය ආරක්‍ෂණ හා පෝෂණ ඇමැති නිමල් සිරිපාල ද සිල්වා ඊයේ (25 දා) "දිවයින"ට පැවැසීය.

නිසි ප්‍රතිකාර කළේ නම් එම දැරියගේ ජීවිතය බේරා ගැනීමට හැකියාව තිබූ බව විශේෂඥ වෛද්‍යවරුන් තමන්ට වාර්තා කළ බවද අදාළ මරණය සම්බන්ධ විමර්ශන වාර්තාව (26 දා) තමන් වෙත ලැබුණු පසු වැරදිකරුවන් සේවයෙන් ඉවත් කිරීමට පියවර ගන්නා බවද ඇමැතිවරයා සඳහන් කළේය.

එම දැරිය වෙනුවෙන් ඇයගේ පවුලේ අය වෙනුවෙන් රජය විසින් සිදුකළ යුතු උපරිම සාධාරණය ඉටුකරන බවද ඒ මහතා වැඩිදුරටත් කියා සිටියේය.
***************************
Comments-????

True/False/Unverified/less likely/never ever

Leave for doctors suspended as flu outbreak spreads

By Gandhya Senanayake(Daily Mirror)

All unnecessary foreign leave for government doctors will be suspended till the 31st of January next year, a Health Ministry spokesman told Daily Mirror Online. The decision was reached due to the A-H1N1 flu outbreak island wide as well as the current spread of dengue fever.

He added that the assistance and expertise of all government doctors were needed at this point of time and that foreign leave for seminars, conferences and workshops have been suspended. However leave for children’s necessity and essential postgraduate study’s for the doctors will be granted, the spokesman added.

Meanwhile commenting on the current A-H1N1 flu outbreak he added that a meeting was held earlier this week and those directors of the hospitals, directors of regional and divisional institutions were educated regarding precautionary and treatment options available for the A-H1N1 flu.

Further he commented that a virus fever was spreading in some parts of the island and that many people were unnecessary testing and sending samples to the Medical Research Institute (MRI) as soon as symptoms of fever and cough were present. Only 250 out of 850 cases which were sent to the MRI were diagnosed as positive for the A-H1N1 strain during the time of June 16th till now he stated.

He also added that thirty six hospitals were equipped to treat the H1N1 flu and that to minimize unwanted testing, the recommendation of the Hospitals microbiologist or pathologist was needed from now on. Two more testing centers are also planned to be opened under the Peradeniya, Kandy teaching Hospital to assist MRI, the new units will be funded by the World Bank he said.
*******************************
Dear Friends,
We would like to know whether the foreign trips of ministry officials also will get affected by this decision.
Any way since their presence with in the country do not have got any positive impact on control of epidemics,their leave may be granted.
(Please note the picture added has got no direct connection with the topic)

Swine Flu!-Present,Past and Future

Past-
18/June/2009
SWINE FLU: GMOA CALLS FOR QUICK ACTION
The Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) yesterday called on the government to take immediate steps to prevent the Swine flu from spreading in the country by implementing a process of screening foreigners at the Bandaranaike International Airport.

GMOA Assistant Secretary and Spokesman Dr. Upul Gunasekara said that the disease spreads from person to person and needs to be alert especially with foreigners entering the country because they could be carrying the disease. “To do this we need to take strong measures, especially in airports,” he said.

The Association expressed the need for quick action before the country could face grave problems.


****************************************
Present-
23/Nov/2009
HINI threat: CP schools closed for a week by Cyril Wimalasurendre

KANDY - The temporary closure of schools of the Central Province for fear of spread of swine fever Influenza H1N1 will be effective till Friday (27) from Monday (23) today.

Any extension of the closure of schools will be announced following the report of the Special Committee appointed to investigate the swine fever situation of the Central Province, Chief Minister CP, Sarath Ekanayake said yesterday (22).

The special committee will arrive in Kandy on Wednesday 25, according to the Chief Minister.

The decision to close the schools of the Central Province was taken by the provincial authorities last week as a temporary measure in view of the spread of swine fever in the province at a high rate. A large number of patients of fever suspected of H1N1 were admitted to Kandy and Peradeniya hospitals.

A school boy of Kandy died following swine fever which was a positive case according MRI reports, while at least ten others, inclusive of two expectant mothers, have died suspected of the same sickness.

Sources said that 24 patients at the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital and 14 at the Kandy General Hospital are undergoing treatment for H1N1 infection.



www island.lk

*****************************
Future-
The Swine flu epidemic which caused many deaths was controlled under the guidance of Honorable Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva. It has been revealed that the number of deaths increased due to "Research work “of the doctors (according to a ministry spokesman).

vaccine to arrive in December

Saturday, 21 November 2009 11:48
(Colombo Lankapuvath November 21)The Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry has decided to import WHO approved Novel Influenza (A)H1N1 2009 vaccine to Sri Lanka and has already placed the order. The vaccine will arrive in December.

The decision was taken during a meeting held yesterday with the presence of Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva and representatives from the Epidemiology Unit, Medical Research Institute (MRI) and Medical Supplies Division (MSD) of the Ministry.

Once here, the vaccine will be given on a priority basis and the four high risk categories will receive it first. They are pregnant mothers, infants below six months, elderly above the age of 60 and persons who are suffering from chronic diseases.

Arrangements will be also made to provide the vaccine to persons in the medical and healthcare services. The first death due to A H1N1 in the Kurunegala District was reported yesterday (20).

The victim was a 58 year old Principal and the father of two. He was admitted to the Kurunagala Teaching Hospital yesterday with symptoms of the flu.

Reports also say that large numbers of officers from the army camp in Kurunagala have fallen ill with the virus.

The Nuwara Eliya district reported three AH1N1 cases with one from the Matale District.
Schools in the Central Province will be closed from Monday (23) due to the rapid spread of the disease.

Central Province Education Ministry Secretary Karunaratne Kekulandara has also requested owners of all private educational institutions and teachers in the Province to suspend tuition and other classes for students until further notice as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of AH1N1 virus which has already taken several lives in the region.
Kandy District had the largest concentration of private education institutes.

Meanwhile Norwegian health authorities said on Friday they have discovered a potentially significant mutation in the H1N1 influenza strain that could be responsible for causing the severest symptoms among those infected.

"The mutation could be affecting the virus' ability to go deeper into the respiratory system, thus causing more serious illness," the Norwegian Institute of Public Health said in a statement.

The World Health Organisation said that the mutation did not appear to be widespread in Norway and the virus in its mutated form remained sensitive to antivirals and pandemic vaccines.

A similar mutation had been detected in H1N1 viruses circulating in several other countries, including China and the United States, in severe as well as in some mild cases, it said.

"Although further investigation is under way, no evidence currently suggests that these mutations are leading to an unusual increase in the number of H1N1 infections or a greater number of severe or fatal cases," the WHO said in a statement.

H1N1, a mixture of swine, bird and human viruses, has killed at least 6,770 people globally, according to its latest update.

Norway has seen relatively more fatalities in the flu pandemic compared to the size of the population versus other European countries, with 23 confirmed deaths.


*************************
Contradicting news from various sources!
We personally do not think that this minister can be that efficient!
Let's better find out whether he is getting a commission from these vaccinations or he may be in need of defending his position as the minister.

Commercialization of the noble profession.

Dear Colleagues,
As you all know now a days doctors are accused of so many things, namely high professional charges, promoting pharmaceutical companies for financial benefits, taking commissions from drugs and various devices, illegal abortions and various other malpractices. I am neither going to white wash the culprits who bring disgrace to the profession nor promote “Siripala Theory”.

Some of you will be inquisitive what this siripala theory is.

That is “YOU DOCTORS,WHO GOT BENEFITS FROM FREE EDUCATION SHOULD WORK WITH OUT ANY MURMUR in all the settings,at all the times and should never ever think about money”
This is just to show you how physician were involved or the image of the doctor was used in promoting tobacco in the past.

See what dramatic changes the time has brought!