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Lanka marks World Diabetes Day 2024, urges urgent action on diabetes crisis

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Inaugural session of the Regional Commemoration of World Diabetes Day 2024 on Thursday

Sri Lanka is facing a significant public health challenge, as diabetes continues to rise at an alarming rate. Dr. P.G. Mahipala, Secretary of the Ministry of Health, emphasized the urgency of addressing the diabetes epidemic in his speech at the inaugural session of the Regional Commemoration of World Diabetes Day 2024 on Thursday.

“Diabetes is not just a medical condition. It is a social challenge,” Dr. Mahipala said. “It requires us to break barriers of inequity, ignorance, and inaction while building bridges of understanding, access, and collaboration.”

Dr. Mahipala highlighted the global scale of the issue, stating that over 422 million people worldwide are affected by diabetes, with 1.5 million lives lost annually due to complications from the disease. He also pointed out that South Asia alone has over 96 million people living with diabetes, many of whom lack access to essential healthcare and treatment.

The two-day event, held at the Cinnamon Lakeside in Colombo, gathered over 100 experts and officials from various regions, including South-East Asia, the Western Pacific, and Africa. The conference, themed “Breaking Barriers, Bridging Gaps,” focused on raising awareness and promoting solutions to address the growing diabetes crisis.

Dr. Guy Fones, Director of Noncommunicable Diseases at the World Health Organization (WHO), addressed the session, noting that chronic underinvestment in health services has created a significant gap between the need for effective prevention and the availability of quality care. “To close this gap, health systems must be reoriented towards primary health care as a foundation for universal health coverage and health security,” Dr. Fones said.

The event also featured online addresses from WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Dr. Saima Wazed, WHO Director for the Southeastern Region. Dr. Alaka Singh, WHO Country Representative, Dr. Samindi Samarkoon, Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Health, along with numerous doctors and provincial health directors, were present at the session.



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President meets Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah Al Ahmad Al Sabah

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President Anura Kumara Disanayake, who is currently in the United Arab Emirates to participate in the 2025 World Governments Summit, met with the Prime Minister of State of Kuwait Sheikh Ahmed Abdullah Al Ahmad Al Sabah on Tuesday (11) afternoon .

During the discussion, President Disanayake highlighted Sri Lanka’s improved political and financial stability, emphasizing the expanded potentials in investment and tourism sectors.

Both leaders focused on strengthening trade relations and diversifying markets between the two countries. They also discussed the importance of exploring new strategic initiatives to enhance economic cooperation.

President Disanayake expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister and the State of Kuwait for its support in securing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan facility, acknowledging its contribution to Sri Lanka’s economic recovery.

Additionally, the President noted that approximately 155,000 Sri Lankan workers are employed in Kuwait, contributing USD 700 million in annual remittances, which serves as a significant boost to Sri Lanka’s economy.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath, accompanied the President on this visit.

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AKD’s attention drawn to ITAK’s threat to demolish Tissa Raja Maha Viharaya

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Sarath Weerasekera

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Former Public Security Minister Rear Admiral (retd.) Sarath Weerasekera yesterday said that it was the responsibility of the NPP government to ensure the safety of Tissa Raja Maha Viharaya, Kankesanthurai.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake holding the defence portfolio in addition to being the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces should look into the developing situation, the retired Navy Chief of Staff said.

The ex-lawmaker was responding to Illankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) leader S. Sritharan’s threat to demolish the Tissa Raja Maha Viharaya unless the government handed over the premises to owners of the land acquired over the years to build the Viharaya.

The warning issued at a media conference held at the Jaffna Press Club recently should also draw the immediate attention of the Parliament, Weeraselera said, stressing that the ruling party as well as other political parties represented in parliament couldn’t turn a blind eye to what he called an explosive development.

Declaring that the ITAK had the backing of the north-based EPDP and TNPF, the ITAK chief has vowed to launch a protest against viharaya and to take over the premises.

Weerasekera said that Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananda Wijepala should take immediate measures to prevent build-up against Tissa Raja Maha Viharaya.

According to him, during his tenure as the Chairman of Oversight Committee on National Security he inquired into the situation therein and addressed the issues at hand. Therefore, the ITAK and other Jaffna-based political parties shouldn’t seek to trigger chaos not only in Jaffna, but in other parts as well.

Responding to another query, Weerasekera, who unsuccessfully contested the last general election on the SLPP ticket, urged the NPP as a political party to take a stand as the north was won by them. The unprecedented defeat suffered by the ITAK at the Nov 2024 general election proved that the vast majority of northerners had rejected separatist agenda pursued by the ITAK etc., and therefore it was trying to incite people, Weerasekera said.

ITAK had conveniently forgotten that it regained the right to represent Tamil speaking people again only after the military had eradicated the LTTE that was recognised by the party way back in 2001 as the sole representative of Tamil speaking people, Weerasekera said, asserting that the planned action against Tissa viharaya could be part of their strategy to regain lost ground in the northern and eastern provinces.

Weerasekera said that the ITAK’s threat reminded him of the violent Pongu Thamil campaign launched in the aftermath of 2002 Ceasefire Accord signed between the then government and the LTTE.

Asked whether he intended to push SLPP to raise the temple issue in Parliament, the former minister answered in the affirmative, saying that all right thinking MPs would oppose the ITAK’s racist move.

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Money laundering case: Travel ban on Yoshitha’s grandmother

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Yoshitha

Police Spokesman SSP Buddhika Manatunga yesterday (11) said that all suspects involved in a money laundering case in which former first lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa’s mother Daisy Forrest Wickremesinghe was under investigation would be prosecuted under the Money Laundering Act.

The Police Spokesman said so after the Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court had imposed an overseas travel ban on Daisy Forrest Wickremesinghe, who is the grandmother of Yoshitha Rajapaksa, in connection with a money laundering case. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s second son Yoshitha is also implicated in the case.

Speaking to the media, SSP Buddhika said that on the instructions of the Attorney General, Mrs Wickremesinghe had been named a suspect in the money laundering case. According to him, the investigations carried out into a Rs. 59 million joint account held by Yoshitha Rajapaksa and Mrs Wickremesinghe, to which Rajapaksa failed to provide a reasonable explanation on the source of earnings.

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