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Waiting for a vaccine

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The world has been thrown into a spin as never before by the Covid virus. The high and the mighty are fighting a raging battle, while hundreds of thousands of their citizens die like flies, cemeteries are running out of burial ground and crematoria are working round the clock. This funereal sepulchral picture no doubt rivals what may have existed during the times of World War 11, the Plague and the 1918 flu pandemic. Yet the cold war attitude lingers on in Covid politics. Covid, though successful in teaching several lessons, has not succeeded in bringing warring factions, both cold and hot together, even when the world is at death’s door. Maybe billions of dollars are at stake. And what have the billionaires been doing; sixteen of the US billionaires have doubled their net worth since March 2020 despite Covid. Elon Musk’s (business magnate billionaire) wealth has tripled, while poor people in the USA die due to unavailability of ventilators.

The Covid-19 virus has the right characteristics necessary for the immune reaction to be successful. So there is hope. The latest progress reports say 240 candidate vaccines are in their early stages of development, 40 are undergoing clinical trials, and nine of them are in the final stage of human clinical trials. The UK , China and the USA vaccines have reached the final stages, while the situation regarding the Russian vaccines are uncertain. The vaccine being developed at the Oxford University is in the final clinical trial stage, and an order for hundred million doses for the UK have already been placed. Several US pharmaceutical companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer have produced vaccines which are now in stage two trials. Scientists involved in this work say a safe and effective vaccine hopefully would be available to everybody by mid-2021. The health workers involved in the management of Covid may be given a vaccine by the end of this year in the US and the UK.

Several methods have been employed to produce vaccines, and some of these methods are being tried out for the first time. The earliest method was to use killed or weakened viruses, the first vaccine used for Smallpox was similarly an attenuated virus. Genetic material of the virus carried in a harmless vector virus is another method used in these trials. The spike protein that protrudes out of the spherical Covid-19 virus, and which plays a role in the disease causing process, has also been used either inside a vector virus or directly. The latter method where the spike protein is used directly is a novel innovative method supposed to be successful in the trials. This protein, when directly injected into humans the body cells, produces more of the protein which induces the immune system to produce antibodies.

Our neighbour India has the largest vaccine manufacturing institution, the Serum Institute of India. Oxford University vaccine when ready may be produced in commercial scale in this institution. Would that be of some use to Sri Lanka, would India make a special case of Sri Lanka and make it available to us? Perhaps, India with a population of 1.3 billion and a rampaging pandemic needs it more than anybody else. Anyway there is a fear that the poor countries may be left in the lurch as the rich countries would grab as much of the vaccine as possible. WHO is trying to prevent this and 80 rich countries, except the US, have pledged their support for this effort.

The other question is, if the availability is limited, who would be considered as priority to be given the vaccine first; would it be the most vulnerable or those in the forefront of the battle against the infection or those who are capable of reviving the economy? The WHO and the UN may have to develop criteria and guidelines in this regard, and also it would be the responsibility of the WHO to see that poor countries are not forced to be at the mercy of the pharmaceutical industry. But would these international bodies have the necessary power to carry out such a meritorious act?

China has said it will give Sri Lanka the vaccine when it is available. A friend indeed. Therefore, it is worthwhile to see how China is progressing in vaccine making. The Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal (Oct. 2020 issue) carried an article reporting that a well controlled clinical trial in China had shown a vaccine consisting of an inactivated whole SARS-CoV-2 virus to be safe, and that it elicits an antibody reaction. Other reports in health journals say that China has produced 11 candidate vaccines, and several of them are in their final trial stage. These are being tested on volunteers in the UAE, Bahrain, Peru and Argentina.

Indonesia, with 350,000 cases and 12,000 deaths, has sent a team to China to inspect the safety and efficacy of these vaccines and the capacity to supply Indonesia’s requirements. Three companies, Sinovac, Sinopharm, and CanSino have promised Indonesia to supply a total of 40 million doses by 2021 and the first shipments are to start in November 2020. Chinese premier has also promised to supply vaccines to the Philippines, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. No doubt China is determined to capture the global vaccine market. A country which has the technology to create the Huawei 5G phone, perhaps has the capability to produce a safe and effective vaccine against the elusive Covid-19.

China has already started giving vaccines to its citizens. People in thousands are queueing to get vaccinated. 350,000 people outside the normal clinical trials are said to have received it by now. The ethics of this act is being questioned by Western scientists, as the knowledge about the efficacy as well as the possible serious side effects is lacking. However, serious side effects have not been reported.

China is a true friend of Sri Lanka and it has promised our Prime Minister that it could give us our requirements of the vaccine when it is ready. Let us wish the Chinese success in their endeavour.

 

N.A.de S. AMARATUNGA



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Opinion

What is wrong with Sri Lanka?

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By Dr Laksiri Fernando

It is not the country per se, but the politicians and the people who are wrong. While politicians should take 70 percent responsibility, the people also should take 30 percent. It is true that these wrongs on the part of the politicians or the people are not limited to Sri Lanka. Even in a country like Australia where I now live, there are intermittent corruption, crime, gender abuse, killing, and misguided politics. However, the difference is extremely vast. Sri Lanka’s wrongs are perhaps 50 times higher than a country like Australia.

One may pinpoint this to the economic difference or development. There is some truth in it. However, the whole truth is not that. It is rooted in the political culture and social culture in general. That is one reason why Sri Lanka was not being able to develop after independence like Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, etc. India also has come to the forefront of development today. Sri Lanka became caught up in a vicious cycle where political culture prevented development, while underdevelopment influenced the political culture.

What is this political culture? It is mainly renovated feudalism with family at the core of politics that dominates the political culture. It is also the same in social culture, families dominating business, religion, entertainment, and the media. Only female members are set apart. It is in a way natural for members of a family to follow their fathers, brothers, or other close members. Or it can happen the other way around, fathers or uncles helping and promoting their siblings.

Even in America or the UK, this could be seen. The Kennedy family promoted members into politics. However, in Sri Lanka this is overwhelming, some families completely dominating politics and social arena. While the Rajapaksas are the most prominent example with abhorrent practices, the Bandaranaikes, the Senanayakes and the Jayewardenes (Ranil Wickremesinghe with links) were also playing the same game. In Australia, I have not come across this process. When John Howard was the Prime Minister, his brother Bob Howard continued to serve as an academic at the University of Sydney whom I used to meet often.

In 1995, I decided to come back to Sri Lanka to serve the country. I applied and got the appointment as the Director of the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI) through a competitive interview. It was a great institute with many capabilities and the people working there were quite flexible and committed. However, when it came to filling vacancies and expanding the staff for new tasks, I came across political influences and pressures.

I managed to overcome them luckily as the SLFI came under the purview of Chandrika Kumaratunga as the President and as she did not make any interference at least in my case. However, I resigned and came back to Australia within six months as the situation was unbearable. People who tried to influence me were either top ministers or bureaucrats.

Again, when I finally came back in 1997, I first joined the University of Colombo before undertaking any other appointments. By that time, I had fairly learned how to overcome political influence. The university system was fairly reasonable (not completely) and on that basis it was possible for me to follow my impartial principles. However, there was at least one instance where a former friend of mine tried to blame me publicly, claiming that I myself asked for favours! It was heartrending.

Sri Lanka’s public service is large and widespread. There are around 1.5 million people working in its various institutions, departments, and branches. Although there is the Public Service Commission which is supposed to be independent, even in its appointments political and other influences are paramount. The most discriminated people in this service are Tamils, Muslims, and Women. Although there are over 15 percent of Tamils in the population, their presence in the public service is less than 10 percent. Apart from discrimination on the reason of ethnicity and gender, there are discriminations on the basis of caste, religion and region. The dissolution of Provincial Councils since October 2019 has enlarged these discriminations overwhelmingly.

It is mistakenly claimed that the ‘large state sector’ is the primary defect of Sri Lanka’s economy. It is not the size of the sector that has mattered but its inefficiency, incapacity, unproductivity, and sometimes duplication. In Australia, out of the total workforce, 20 percent are in the state sector. But it is sufficiently productive and provides necessary services even to private enterprises. In Sri Lanka, if we count 12 million as the workforce (adult population 14 million), the state sector comprises only around 12 percent.

The state sector undoubtedly should be restructured, and the workforces should be retrained or even dismissed. There is no point in keeping people like Sirimanna Mahattaya in the public service if we take an example from the teledrama, Kolam Kuttama (Funny Couple)! Even privatising certain (loss-making) state enterprises is in order. However, there are certain sectors and services that the state should hold on to. Education and Health are the most priory sectors among others, depending on national dialogues. It could allow the private sector to participate, but the state should not give up its primary responsibilities.

There can be other strategic sectors where the private sector could be allowed like the ports, airports, airlines, electricity, gas, oil, and even water, but the state should not give up its responsibilities completely. Public-Private partnership can be a model in certain areas in this respect.

The stagnation of the education sector has been a primary problem area in Sri Lanka now for a long time. This applies both to school education and university education alike. In the case of university education there have been some curricula and teaching methodology changes but those are not up to modern and current needs.

We still get a huge number of Arts students while the country’s need is in the direction of Science, Technology, Medicine, Nursing and Business Management. Those who come from the Arts streams in schools, if it is not possible to change in the short run, should be able to move to scientific areas, if capable. In Australia, there is no prohibition of changing the stream if the students show high capability in whatever area that they qualify in. School education should be totally reformed with emphasis on scientific and international knowledge.

The discarding of English education (since 1956), in my opinion, has been the major mistake that the country has committed in degrading the educational system, the economy, and the country’s international profile. In recent times young generations are trying to overcome these barriers through private education, tuition, and social media. However, this is mostly limited to the well to do. English should not be considered as a superior or imperial language, but a practical and international language.

While this short article, with word limits, confine to only few areas of ‘wrongs’ that Sri Lanka is committing, a possible conclusion is to call for an overall change in the political and economic system in the country. Those political leaders and parties responsible for the country’s present political and economic crisis should be completely ousted.

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Opinion

Plan to transform country into an export economy

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Dear Mr. President,

A Presidential Media Division statement, titled “Country set for rapid transformation into an export economy” quoted remarks made by you at the inauguration ceremony of a historic temple in Kegalle.

As a caring citizen I said, “three cheers”, happily thinking that at last, the country was on the correct governance path focusing on the creation of new strategic leadership options and policy changes to encourage present and new investors to produce tradable goods and engage in external services. I was delighted that the statement began with a reference that Sri Lanka can no longer continue to rely on borrowings (presumably external?) to address the imbalance between imports and exports, which if pursued will inevitably lead to another economic crisis within a decade.

As I read the rest of the statement, I noted that your plan for achieving such a transformation by holding discussions with the World Bank, ADB and the IMF to initiate a programme and passing two new laws in April. The only other reference even as a vague statement was in relation to implementing an agricultural modernisation programme, where you anticipated results only after 6-7 years. Are you planning in addition to leverage the National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) and its Secretariat as a part of your implementation strategy[ii] ?

I am sure that many highly competent Sri Lankan trade economists (including those who have guided you in the past), will be able to advise you on more important winning strategic policy/implementation and change management options.

They would surely stress the relative importance of developing strategic networking options with supply chains in the region, assisting capable SME’s to upgrade quality/productivity, and enhancing public infrastructure productivity; along with the need to remove para tariffs, enhance ease of doing business, and one stop facilitation center benchmarking services in South Indian states. These can bring big gains, well before dreaming as your short-term goal, leveraging Free Trade Agreements with India, China, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and attempting a high jump by  joining RCEP.

Chandra Jayaratne

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Opinion

Solar and wind power projects

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There has been a delay in finalising the unit cost for the proposed 500 Mw wind power project initiated by India’s Adani Group. This is surprising and disturbing as there was a news item that the Cabinet had approved the payment of US dollar cents 14.6 per unit, nearly Rs. 50 in our local currency, without the knowledge of the Ministry for Power and Energy or the Ceylon Electricity Board. If so, what is the reason for the delay in going ahead with the construction of the Wind Power Project at Mannar? The snag may be that other private suppliers too are demanding the same payment as agreed with Adani Group.

As I handled this subject at the Ministry of Power and Energy, I still take interest therein, in my retirement. In my earlier letters to the press, I pointed out the negative aspects of wind and solar projects, mainly, Sri Lanka being an island with a limited land area of 65,610 sq. km, where land is required for agriculture as is seen by the desperate attempt of the government offering uncultivated land both state-owned and private to grow more food.

It is said that four to five acres of land is required to produce 1 Mw of electricity. If so, consider the land requirements for major solar parks. In addition, no plant life is possible under these solar panels, which has multiple effects on the atmosphere. The scenic beauty of this country, which attracts tourists will be lost and thereby foreign exchange which we desperately need. This goes for floating solar projects on hydro reservoirs and lakes which the government has already approved contracts to the private sector. In wind farms, there is the danger to birds and flying insects. It is also reported that due to the noise people cannot settle down in adjacent areas.

It is not my intention to discourage the projects to produce power from renewable sources of energy. I intend to make the authorities concerned seek alternative sites, along the sea coast, avoiding beaches frequented by tourists, rooftop solar panels in all buildings. Do not forget we are actively pursuing the connection of our grid to India and when this project materialises, the energy requirement of this country will be eased to a great extent.

It is strange the Ministers in charge of land and agriculture and also tourism have not objected to setting up solar parks and wind farms on land.

G. A. D. Sirimal

Via e-mail

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