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Prof. Vitarana calls for a public approach based on intensive health education to get rid of Covid-19

Published

5 years ago

2020/12/6

Sahan Weerasooriya

It will be cheaper and easier to implement

By Saman Indrajith

LSSP leader Prof. Tissa Vitarana, the country’s most senior virologist, participating in the third reading stage of the budget debate under the expenditure headings of the Ministry of Health, said that it was not necessary to wait for a successful vaccine to be made and used to control the Covid-19 virus. It would also be very expensive. A public health approach based on intensive health education, and the active participation of the community would be cheaper, easier to implement and more effective even to get rid of the virus altogether from the country.

“We must first understand that this is a new virus to the world. There are many other types of viruses in the world which can cause alarm and even lead to epidemics, but there is a social immunity that has arisen against them with time and they tend to be milder. But for Covid-19 there is no such immunity. There is insufficient understanding of its behavior. It is still being studied and new knowledge of the virus is being discovered every day.” Prof. Vitarana said.

“It is in such a context that our Government faced the challenge and I must praise the way in which the Government handled that challenge. In the first wave, our experts identified separate clusters that had their origins from foreign sources. Action had been taken to identify the threat and to mitigate the damage in a scientific manner, so that Sri Lanka came to be among one of the few top countries in the world which handled the virus threat without letting it evolve into a pandemic”, said the renowned Virologist who was the former Head of the Medical Research Institute’s Virology department, and also worked as a consultant virologist at the Edinburgh City Hospital.

“But the virus gradually evolved itself. A PCR test is being used to make the diagnosis. The PCR test to identify the infection has a 70% level of accuracy. But PCR tests done against other viruses have a level of accuracy of more than 90%. This means that further research needs to be done to improve the capabilities of the Covid-19 PCR tests. About 30% of positives are being missed. That is the reality with regard to PCR tests. Further about 80% of those infected by the virus show no illness but can infect other people. Therefore, these are not easy conditions to control the spread of infection”, he said.

The World Health Organization has expressed its willingness to give vaccines to 20% of our population free of charge. The WHO can access the institutional capacity to ensure the safety and potency of those vaccines. These vaccines should be used to save the lives of elders and those who have other chronic medical conditions, for example heart patients. However, the main purpose of giving vaccines to a population is to make a country immune to the disease. To effectively stop transmission of the virus, at least 80% of the population needs to be immunized. This is a new vaccine and it is not known how long the immunization would last. And research is still been done on how frequently the vaccine should be given to obtain optimum protection. Under these circumstances the development of a program to vaccinate the entire population is unreliable and would be very costly. So the duty of the Government is to increase public awareness of the importance of following the three main health rules – the wearing of masks when other people are present, maintaining a distance of at least one meter, but better two meters, between oneself and other people, and frequent hand washing using soap, specially after touching any surface which has been touched by other people, Prof. Vitarana, who completed his PhD in virology from the University of London in 1971, further said.

He noted that there is a severe shortage of medicines in the Government hospitals and the cost is very high in the open market.

“I would like to suggest to the Minister that the way out would be to implement the Senaka Bibile Medicinal drug policy. Tenders were called worldwide to meet the requirement not only of the public health care system but also the private sector. Thus, the tenders called supplied the total national requirement. The tenders were called by the State Pharmaceutical Corporation using generic names of the medicine so that they could be bought at the cheapest prices provided their quality was ensured by getting certificates of good manufacturing practice by the supplying pharmaceutical companies”, he said.

This enabled all the Government hospitals to provide all the required medicines for practically every illness free of charge. The medicines were made available to the private sector too at the lowest possible prices. That was the result of the implementation of the Senake Bibile policy”, Prof. Vitarana added.

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FSP warns of possible coal shortage

Published

14 hours ago

2026/03/9

Thilina Walpola

“No shipment for 10 days; seas off western coast will become rough by April end”

Education Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) Pubudu Jayagoda says the Indian company which secured a tender to supply coal for electricity generation this year has delivered only 13 of the 25 shipments required and no vessel has arrived in Sri Lanka for the last 10 days or so.

Jayagoda said so while addressing the media during a protest held in Colombo yesterday.

Jayagoda said the Indian company Trident Chemphar, which secured the tender to supply 25 coal shipments for 2026, had placed the country’s coal stocks at risk.

Although all 25 coal shipments are required to be unloaded before the end of April, only 13 vessels have arrived in Sri Lanka so far, according to Jayagoda. He also claimed that no shipment had arrived during the first week of March, adding that coal vessels had not arrived for about 10 days.

Jayagoda warned that the situation could endanger the country’s energy supply as the seas off the western coast usually turn rough by the end of April, disrupting unloading operations.

According to Jayagoda, a report submitted by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka to the Parliamentary Oversight Committee on infrastructure and strategic development, power cuts may become necessary from August even if the country falls short of five shipments unless electricity is generated using costly diesel-powered thermal plants.

Jayagoda also alleged irregularities in the tender process, claiming that the government had changed tender specifications and delayed the tender process by about four months, possibly to allow the Indian company time to register and secure performance guarantees.

He further alleged that the coal supplied by the Indian company was substandard.

Jayagoda questioned why the tender had not been cancelled despite several shipments allegedly failing to meet quality standards and why no investigation had been launched.He asked why legal action had not been taken against the company despite supply disruptions.

News

Repatriation of Iranian naval personnel Sri Lanka’s call: Washington

Published

14 hours ago

2026/03/9

Thilina Walpola

The US Department of State has said that Washington respects Sri Lanka’s sovereignty in handling matters relating to the Iranian warship IRIS Bushehr and its crew, according to agency reports, quoting a State Department Spokesperson. He has said the final decision regarding the vessel, its crew and the rescued Iranian sailors rests with Sri Lanka in accordance with its domestic laws and international legal obligations.

The statement follows comments by Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath that Sri Lanka was looking after 32 sailors rescued from the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena under Colombo’s international treaty obligations.

The frigate was sunk by a US submarine off Sri Lanka’s southern coast on Wednesday during escalating hostilities involving the United States and Iran.

Sri Lanka’s Navy conducted rescue operations, following the incident, recovering 84 bodies.

Asked whether Colombo was under US pressure not to repatriate the Iranian sailors, Herath said Sri Lanka had taken all actions in accordance with international law.

Sri Lanka also provided safe harbour to the second Iranian warship, IRIS Bushehr, and evacuated its 219 crew members a day after the Dena was torpedoed. The vessel was taken to the port of Trincomalee after reporting engine problems.

Citing an internal cable, Reuters reported that Washington had urged Sri Lanka not to repatriate the Iranian sailors. However, the State Department spokesperson reiterated that the disposition of the crew and survivors was a matter for Sri Lanka to decide, adding that the United States respects Sri Lanka’s sovereignty in managing the situation.

Meanwhile, India allowed a third Iranian warship, IRIS Lavan, to dock in a port on humanitarian grounds after it reported operational difficulties.

The ship docked at the port of Kochi, where many of the crew, including young cadets, were disembarked and transferred to a nearby facility.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said Colombo would follow the provisions of the Hague Convention, which requires neutral states to detain combatants of warring parties until the end of hostilities.

A senior administration official said Sri Lanka was in discussions with the International Committee of the Red Cross regarding the treatment of survivors from the torpedoed vessel. International humanitarian law would apply to the wounded, who could be repatriated if they requested it, the official added.

Iranian diplomats in Colombo have requested the return of the remains of sailors killed in the attack to Iran.

News

Indian Ocean must remain peace zone: Sajith

Published

14 hours ago

2026/03/9

Thilina Walpola

Opposition and SJB leader Sajith Premadasa, emphasised the critical need for the Indian Ocean region to remain peaceful and not become part of any conflict, said a news report published by NDTV yesterday.

It said: As the Iran-Israel war enters its second week, the theatre of the war has expanded dramatically, reaching the waters of Sri Lanka. With the sinking of Iranian warship IRIS Dena in international waters off Lanka’s coast and the docking of a second Iranian vessel, IRIS Busheher, Colombo has become embroiled in a conflict where it seeks to remain only a neutral bystander.

Speaking with NDTV, Sajith Premadasa, Leader of the Opposition in Sri Lanka emphasised the critical need for the Indian Ocean region to remain peaceful and not become part of any conflict.

“The Indian Ocean has on successive occasions been declared a peaceful area and should remain so,” said Premadasa.

The Sri Lankan government has said that it will attend to all survivors of the ill-fated IRIS Dena and IRIS Busheher as per international protocols and norms. Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said his country had a “humanitarian responsibility” to take in the crew of the vessel, which was allowed to dock at Trincomalee in Northern Sri Lanka.

Premadasa, who is the leader of the opposition party SJB, called on all parties to cease the ‘asymmetric warfare’. He cautioned that the widening conflict would have devastating consequences for smaller countries like Sri Lanka, which is still reeling from its worst economic crisis in 2022.

“The Middle East conflict is already spreading to other countries, and this is having an impact on Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan people,” Mr Premadasa told NDTV.

A third Iranian vessel that was in the Indian Ocean, IRIS Lavan, has docked at Kochi in India. India has said it was a “humanitarian call” after the vessel sent out a distress call.