Removal of Health Minister will not resolve crisis: G.L.

Tuesday, 24 October 2023 01:25 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Says replacement of Health Minister is not an effective remedy for ongoing health sector crisis
Calls reshuffle a mere theatrical act which has fooled no one in Sri Lanka
Claims sole solution now is to hold a parliamentary election in 2024

Freedom People’s Congress (FPC) member and parliamentarian Prof. G.L Peiris yesterday said the dismissal of Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella to replace him with another is not an effective remedy for the ongoing crisis in the country’s healthcare sector.

Addressing a press conference, Peiris called the move a band-aid solution and said it would not resolve any of the issues faced by the health service.

“This won’t bring about a resolution. It’s all just a theatrical act. No one in the country holds the belief that replacing one individual with another will address any of the problems,” he opined.

The MP accused the Government of merely deceiving the public with these measures.

In response to the fraud involving the supply of human immunoglobulin IV to state sector hospitals, the MP pointed out that the Government is now quite shamelessly acknowledging that instead of the expected medicine, they had purchased a saline solution.

“A bottle of saline costs Rs. 50. But the Government has paid Rs. 40,000. Whose money is this? This is not out of the personal funds of Ministers. They have been purchased from public monies,” he noted.

The Minister maintained that a reshuffle would be ineffective, and the sole solution lies in conducting a parliamentary election in 2024.