News
Dr. Ginige: Unproven claims could discourage vaccination of children
By Rathindra Kuruwita
Isolated incidents and sensational media reports have the potential to discourage the vaccination of children, Dr. Samitha Ginige, the Head of the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry says.
Dr. Ginige told The Island yesterday that a four-month-old infant had died, on Monday, at the Kuliyapitiya Teaching Hospital, following the administration of pentavalent vaccine at the Kuliyapitiya MOH office.
The Consultant Epidemiologist said: “We are looking into this. However, all vaccines given to our children are WHO approved. We have been using vaccines from the same producer for the past five years. There is hitherto no scientific data to show there is something wrong with the vaccine.
“Over 200,000 doses of the same vaccine have been administered to children across the country,” he said.
Pentavalent vaccine provides protection to a child from five life-threatening diseases, i.e., diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B and hib.
Dr. Ginige said that if parents did not have their children vaccinated, some diseases that the country had not seen for generations would raise their heads again. Sri Lanka had one of the most successful immunisation programmes in the world, and that this is the reason why Sri Lanka has a high quality of living, Dr. Ginige said.
Approval of the Cabinet of Ministers has been granted at their meeting held on 19.05.2025 in order to introduce amendments to the Inland Revenue Act No. 24 of 2017 including the proposed tax revisions to enhance the tax structure paving way for state financial integrity based on revenue.
Accordingly, the revised draft bill has been prepared by the legal draftsman and clearance of the Attorney General has been received.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers has granted approval for
the resolution furnished by the President in his capacity as the Minister of Finance, Policy Planning and Economic Development to publish the aforementioned draft bill in the government gazette notification and subsequently, forward the same to the Parliament for its concurrence.
The National Mineral Policy was prepared for the first time in the year 1999, and the aforementioned policy has been amended in 2023 to cover matters such as preparing an updated data system related to mineral resources, adding value to the export of minerals, encouraging mineral-related industrialists, extracting mineral resources and managing the environment sustainably, and resolving the issues related to the ownership of the land arising in extracting mineral resources.
The revised National Mineral Policy has been reupdated in line with the manifesto “A Sustainable Resource Utilization – Generation of the Highest Benefit” under the policy statement of the current government” A Thriving Nation – A Beautiful Life.”
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution presented by the Minister of Industries and
Entrepreneurship to implement the so-formulated “National Mineral Policy—2026.”
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