Calls for expert advice for resolution of the economic crisis

The current economic crisis in Sri Lanka has also affected the health sector. An acute shortage of medical drugs, surgical instruments and other medical supplies have forced hospitals to take drastic measures to preserve the available supplies for as long as possible. In a letter to the President dated  April 7, the Sri Lanka Medical Association Intercollegiate Committee has stated that due to the shortage of essential medicines, reagents, equipment and consumables in government hospitals and the private healthcare sector; decisions were taken to ‘curtail some services such as routine surgical operations and even limit the usage of available material to life-threatening illnesses’. It was also mentioned that they had discussed to preserve available material by prudent use. The letter also notes that it is not a sound or sustainable policy because if the supplies aren’t replenished within days or weeks, even emergency treatment would not be possible resulting in a large number of deaths which would exceed the combined total of COVID-19, Tsunami and the civil war. In this backdrop, the Faculty of Medicine Teachers’ Association (FMTA) also held a protest on April 8 at the University of Colombo medical faculty premises. 

“We train future doctors of this country, and with the current crisis, all of us have reached our limit for tolerance - Prof. Sudharshani Wasalathanthri President of FMTA"

Calls for economists’ expertise to deal with the economic crisis

Speaking to Daily Mirror, the President of FMTA, Prof. Sudharshani Wasalathanthri mentioned that while they have been non-political throughout, they had to step out as this economic crisis was affecting the health sector and also the higher education sector. “We train future doctors of this country, and with the current crisis, all of us have reached our limit for tolerance. As medical professionals and educators, we are worried about our patients and students,” she said elaborating that many students are undergoing depression due to the current economic crisis. “The power outages are really affecting their education. We get students from across the country belonging to different social strata. Due to the economic crisis, their families are also undergoing crises, which in turn affects our students too. Even we, as members of the general public, are also affected by this crisis,” shared Prof. Wasalathanththri adding that the solutions to the crisis should come through the parliament and that those in power should consult experts in the field regarding crisis resolution.

"Many patients take drugs lifelong for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). If they are unable to access these drugs, it will eventually affect their quality of life and their life could be in danger - Prof. Indika Karunathilake Vice President of FMTA"

Sharing similar sentiments as her, Prof. Dinithi Fernando, Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, shared that they had an ethical responsibility to speak up regarding the economic crisis and urged the government to solve the economic crisis immediately. “This is an economic crisis, so we, as medical professionals do not have the expertise to tell the government what to do. But we did share our expertise when dealing with health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Likewise, we urge the government to take the advice of qualified, unbiased economists and bring about solutions that can solve the crisis. This has to be done immediately, because the more it is delayed, the country’s situation will become even worse.” 

“We are short of essential drugs and essential surgical supplies. Therefore, urging the government to get these down soon is also one of our demands - Dr. Asela Anthony Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine"

Dealing with the health crisis

While calls for economists to be appointed to deal with the economic crisis swiftly was a common request from those present at the protest, Dr Asela Anthony, Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine also added that bad planning and economic mismanagement had resulted in the current health crisis. “This has affected all the sectors in Sri Lanka, even health. Due to the dollar crisis, we are unable to get down drugs and other medical supplies. We are short of essential drugs and essential surgical supplies. Therefore, urging the government to get these down soon is also one of our demands,” he said.

Prof. Indika Karunathilake, Vice President of FMTA, also requested that economists and experts from various fields affected by the crisis should be given the power and authority to implement their collective action plan to solve the current economic crisis. “As health professionals, we urge the government to sort out the drugs and other medical supply shortages as soon as possible because if not solved soon, it can be catastrophic. Many patients take drugs lifelong for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). If they are unable to access these drugs, it will eventually affect their quality of life and their life could be in danger. Some patients need specific drugs for certain diseases and conditions, like cancer. These drugs are not necessary in large scale, but are very important for the patient’s health condition. We also need drugs to deal with emergency situations,” he shared. 

"We urge the government to take the advice of qualified, unbiased economists and bring about solutions that can solve the crisis - Prof. Dinithi Fernando Professor at the Faculty of Medicine"

He also proposed that as a long-term solution to this crisis, root causes of the crisis should be identified and eliminated. “We have identified the root causes as corruption, inefficiency, favouritism, nepotism and malpractices. These should be eliminated and there has to be transparency in all the happenings,” he said, adding that the drug importation process should be transparent. “With minimal available resources, we’ll be able to get essential drugs down if the importation process is transparent and if the government implements the essential medicines policy.”

Pix by - Waruna Wanniarachchi