Oral rinse deal leaves bad taste in mouth

Tuesday 14th January, 2025

The Health Ministry is in the news again for all the wrong reasons. It has become a metaphor for corruption. Irrefutable evidence has emerged about how politicians at the helm of it have enriched themselves over the years at the expense of the sick, cutting as they did shady deals to procure substandard equipment and pharmaceuticals including fake cancer drugs. There is a widely-held misconception in this country that only politicians are corrupt; bureaucrats, save a few, are no better. The state service is as corrupt as the political authority.

What has been unfolding on the economic and political fronts, since last year’s regime change, does not hold out much hope for those who dreamt of a clean Sri Lanka under the new NPP dispensation. No room should, however, be left for pessimism where anti-corruption campaigns are concerned, for it has the potential to breed hopelessness and even conformism, but it is difficult to ignore the harsh reality.

On witnessing widespread malpractices in developing countries, one wonders whether governments may come and governments may go but the corrupt go on forever. Sri Lankans usually do not make informed decisions when they elect their representatives, far less fight for their rights the way they should; worse, all systems are geared towards serving the interests of the crooked. Thankfully, the current economic crisis jolted the Sri Lankan public into taking a long hard look at the way they had been exercising their franchise and ‘suffer crooks gladly,’ so to speak. Hence the mammoth mandate they delivered to the NPP in last year’s general election, expecting it to upend all compromised systems and install in their place new ones to eliminate corruption, which has stood in the way of national progress. Worryingly, things do not seem to be moving in the desired direction under the new dispensation as well.

The Doctors’ Trade Union Alliance for Medical and Civil Rights Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa has accused the State Pharmaceutical Corporation (SPC) of having decided to award a tender worth Rs. 36 million to a blacklisted Bangladeshi company for supplying 270,000 bottles of a mouth-cleaning antiseptic solution.

The SPC’s response to the allegation in question was not known at the time of writing. Some media reports said the SPC had asked for time to respond as an inquiry into the matter was underway. Health Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe has said the issue will be probed.

It is not difficult to get at the truth. The SPC only has to check whether the foreign company it has selected has been blacklisted. If the allegation is true, then all those who decided to award the aforesaid tender to that firm must be made to explain why they did so and whether they acted under duress. The controversial oral rinse deal has left a bad taste in many a mouth. It is a sad reflection on the new administration, which came to power, promising to root out the scourge of bribery and corruption.

When former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella and some health officials were prosecuted over the procurement of a consignment of fake immunoglobulin, it was thought that the health authorities would act cautiously and make a serious effort to enforce transparency in its dealings and restore public trust in the state health sector. But the health officials do not seem to be willing to mend their ways if Dr. Sanjeewa’s serious allegation is any indication.

Let the government be urged to have the DTUAMCR President’s allegation thoroughly probed in an impartial and transparent manner. It should be able to do so promptly if it has nothing to hide. One can only hope that the government will not launch a vilification campaign against Dr. Sanjeewa instead of having the questionable tender deal investigated.