Letters to the Editor
View(s):It won’t be long before paradise isle turns into a desert under this Govt.
I was bewildered to hear from the JVP’s youth wing that more than 10,000 acres of forest had already been destroyed since the present Government took office. The JVP’S national youth wing organizer Eranga Gunasekera revealed this bitter fact at a press conference held at the party headquarters recently.
He further said this Government is cutting a large number of trees, some more than 75 – 100 years old on the pretext of developing the country. The Dahaiyagala forest in Thammanvila village was being cleared on January 30. When the youth wing team visited this area, the villagers had told them this jungle has been cleared to help a businessman who is building a resort in the jungle.
Further, they related that two acres in the Aanvilundawa wetland site had been bulldozed, 10 acres in Vanathavilluwa forest had been cleared, a businessman crony of the Govt. had been given 1500 acres of land to grow aloe vera from the Wilpattu jungle, 5423 acres in the Galawalaya jungle belonging to the Veddahs had been cleared and many more acres of forest land have been given to wealthy businessmen who were in the President’s ‘Viyath Maga’ programme. It is amazing that within 1 ½ years of the Government’s tenure such a massive amount of forest has been destroyed.
We wonder what would happen to our country by the end of the present Government’s term. Would our country be a desert by then?
Z.A.M. Shukoor Aranayaka
Channel practice: How it all began and evolved
After reading Professor Rohan Siriwardene’s candid and soul-searching letter regarding channel practice and patients in the Sunday Times Plus of March 7, I decided to write this small piece on the evolution of ‘channel practice.’
In the 1950s, there were two tiers of medical practitioners, the general practitioners, and the specialists (consultants). The latter group were in government service, apart from a few exceptions.
The strong bulwark of GPs were usually consulted first by the patient, and if there was a problem, they were referred to the consultant, (the names that come to mind of the GPs in Colombo are Drs Frank Gunasekera, Muthumany, A.D.P.A Wijegoonewardene, Raffael, Hugh Jayasekera….) In some instances, the GP would sometimes call the consultant to see one of his patients after admission or at the patient’s home.
The consultant would see not more than10 to 15 patients in the comfort of his own home during the lunch break, or after five. His fee was the equivalent of one Guinea, 21 Rupees! The two main private hospitals were Central and Durdans, the latter was an old-fashioned villa type building. There were a few smaller hospitals too, of which the only one in existence today is Rutnam’s private hospital.
This system continued, until 1974 when Government doctors were banned from doing private practice. This led to the resignation\retirement of several of the popular specialists who continued to practise in the private sector.
Around two to three years later, consultants working in government hospitals were once more permitted to do private practice, but it had to be “channelled” through a private hospital, presumably to ensure correct tax returns! Then in the 1990s channelling in the lunch break was banned.
Another development was a substantial pay rise for consultants, in1987 or 1988; we got the magnificent sum of Rs.14,000 per month! The Government could not afford to distribute this type of “largesse” to other grades of medical officers, so to placate them they were permitted to practise after working hours. This led to a proliferation of GPs of dubious quality. This situation was somewhat rectified by the PGIM instituting a degree in ‘Family Medicine’ some years later.
However, now the referral system is practically non-existent, and channelling has developed into a hydra-headed monster!
Dr. Premini Amerasinghe Via email
More needs to be done to educate people about mental health
It was reported last week that an innocent nine-year-old girl was caned and killed by a witch healer. This unfortunate child had been suffering from some mental disturbances and the mother had sought a very primitive type of therapy instead of taking her for proper treatment.
This is not the first time such physical harassments have happened in our country. It is not uncommon to see similar incidents in the form of beating, burning and mental harassment. It is very sad to hear this while there are facilities to treat mental illnesses free of charge in government hospitals.
There are many people doing similar types of primitive therapy in the country. Some even advertise in newspapers and social media. Ideally, such practices should be prohibited, but it may not be practically possible due to some social factors.
Nevertheless, there should be a strict monitoring system for these types of treatment and therapy places.. The mental state and character of these therapists/ healers should also be assessed. There should be processes of monitoring by the Health Ministry or other government institute. Monitoring of financial gains is also necessary.
Scientific thinking and a basic knowledge about mental health issues should be included in our school curriculum. The media also has a big role in educating people about mental health based on modern science.
Dr. D.P.D. Wijesinghe
Consultant Psychiatrist Via email