(April 06, Vavuniya, Sri Lanka Guardian) Last week, that is during the week that ended before the end of the month of March, had a special visitor to Vavuniya. It was after a painful deliberation this person had with the defense authorities, personally. Unfortunately, the President could not decide on his own. The consent to the tour was compromised with the Secretary of Defense, finally agreeing.
The tour was facilitated by the SL Air force, from Colombo to Vavuniya.
For any other person, the trip ends in Medawachchiya. No one is allowed beyond Medawachchiya. No vehicles are allowed beyond this point which is about 27 km before Vavuniya for any reason without special permission from the Ministry of Defense. This also means there is no other access to Vavuniya, where all IDP's are held in barbed wire camps.
Though a guided tour under military supervision for a person nominated by the President himself, the observations were startling.
Vavuniya hospital can hold only 600 patients at a maximum. But there are over 1,200 patients.
Mannar hospital, it has been told could hold only 500, but there are over 1,000 by now Trincomalee hospital has now been left for exclusive use of the government security forces. No one is allowed in there and the military maintains it does not have to give explanations.
The ministry of health had proposed starting cluster hospitals to serve these main hospitals, but the proposal had been shot down by the defense ministry, as a security threat.
Instead there are 2 temporary sheds put up in the Vavuniya hospital premises that can house only 50 beds each.
But they don't have even the basic sanitary facilities. There is a serious shortage of medical personnel in the area. No qualified Anesthetists and Surgeons are available in the service areas. Very junior medical officers have been thus burdened with carrying out even amputations, while senior specialists have refused to move into those areas.
The Medical Council of Surgeons have refused to give clearance for surgical operations carried out by junior medical officers, though they continue to operate on patients for purely medical requirements and these may in normal situations amount to criminal activity.
The ministry of health has organized rotational work for medical personnel from outside the areas to supplement the work requirement, but it would cost the ministry a staggering amount of at least Rs. 28,000 per day as cost of mobilizing such service, which the ministry is unable to meet.
No informal or private conversation with the refugees is possible in these camps, with security personnel in civvies deployed as IDP's among the refugees. This prevents innocent refugees from even talking of their day to day needs, to any authority.
There is the MSF that works in 10 of the 13 such camps. But unfortunately they are unable to come up with detail info in the camps.
Home Unlabelled An untold story: Vavuniya where hospitals lack all facilities
An untold story: Vavuniya where hospitals lack all facilities
By Sri Lanka Guardian • April 06, 2009 • • Comments : 4
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so what have you visited the rest of the hospitals in sri lanka.Wake up and smell the shit.Even the little progress the country could have made in the last few years was destroyed by the violence created by poeple like you and POL POT VELU.Dont expect miracles when none are available in this world.
...Strange... The High-ranking UN Official who went to the IDP camps and visited Vavunia last week, has expressed high satisfaction of the efforts that the SL Govt has taken to safeguard innocent Tamil civilians from the ltte.
.... nice try at 'genocide' and hallucinated 'hardships'.... but it is too late for the eelamists..
If you really care about the Tamils you should stop whimpering and face the true facts.
The military perdsonal should be given preference for whatever medical aide is available, the children and old aged people should also be looked after.
We have to congratulate the Rajapakse family and not the Bandaranaikes not the Samaraweeras the Wickremasinghes or the idiot S.B.Dissanayake for overwhelming the LLTE. The mention people and their acolytes will try to gain polictical milage referring to the economy, but then there is not one country that has been spared. Not even the United States, Russia or China.
I suppose Tudor, you sit in shit up there in Canada as a bloody refugee living on the Canadian people and make pompous statements. I have been a journalists for forty years and am not willing to be sodomised by anyone especially your friend Vulu. In fact I am a patriot and you a traitor. The forces are putting their lives on libne so that we will not be forced to speak Tamil. You people sell the good name of the country and then bark out how bad the state of affairs is. I think our hospitals are as good as any and I have lived in England and France.
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