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Dengue
on the rise despite campaigns Though the situation was contained after a dengue outbreak reached epidemic level two years ago, the disease is once again set to deteriorate into epidemic proportions, especially with the present monsoon rains. Colombo's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam said 28 cases had been reported last month while the figure for the first week of June was ten. The Public Health Department has been conducting awareness programmes and cleaning campaigns including spraying insecticide in Colombo, yet cases are reported from Wellawatte and Kollupitiya. Public Health Department teams yesterday carried out programmes in several areas in Kollupitiya, including areas around Temple Trees. Epidemiology Unit Director Dr. T.A. Kulatillake said the past two weeks saw an increase in the number of cases reported. Some of the areas where dengue outbreaks are reported include Colombo, Gampaha, Matara and Ampara. He said all medical officers had been alerted to take speedy measures to control the spread of the disease. General symptoms for dengue include high fever, headache, rash on the face and other places, muscle, joint pains, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Early treatment is advised if a patient is suspected with dengue. Be alert to a sudden drop in temperature. Refrain from giving Aspirin or drugs containing Salicylates. Use only paracetamol. Now
safe sex the female way Of 35 commercial
sex workers who reported back after using the female condom, 32
had liked it "very much" or "fairly well", while
28 had preferred it to the male condom. Though the condoms had been given free to the sex workers, they had made their clients pay more than the usual rate as charges for the condom. "Eight of the clients had requested the sex workers to bring a female condom next time and agreed to pay for it," explained Kaminie Hapugalle of CDS. Thirty-two sex workers had also found it to be noisy, though some of them had stated the noise caused some amount of arousal and excitement. The Female Health Company based in England is the sole manufacturer of the female condom and its promotion work is carried out by the non-profit Family Health Foundation, which has based its Asian regional office in Colombo. "The female condom was launched in 1992 in Switzerland and is now available in over 70 countires. It continues to be the only new prevention technology invented since the beginning of the HIV epidemic. Through a partnership agreement with UNAIDS signed in 1996 the female condom has been made available to public health providers and markets," explains Anne Philpott of the Female Health Foundation. Presently 10 million female condoms are sold per year. Ms. Philpott said there were no concrete plans to market the female condom in Sri Lanka immediately, but the Foundation would carry out more research and acceptability studies among different groups of women in the country. Launched in Switzerland in 1992, it has now been introduced in certain states in India such as Andhra Pradesh, and also Cambodia, Nepal, Vietnam, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea and Fiji and many western countries. "The female condom was launched in Japan three months ago and now sells about a million," says Ms. Philpott. Pinpointing the HIV figures of 60 million people who are infected, she said the female condom was an effective tool in not only preventing HIV but also all sexually transmitted diseases among vulnerable groups. "It is safe and can be used to avoid unwanted pregnancies. It is also a means of empowering women." For Asia, the cost may be prohibitive. But an agreement has been signed with Hindustan Latex Limited in India to market and manufacture the female condom there, bringing down the cost. "It will be in Trivandrum," says Ms. Philpott.
In the past six weeks alone, there have been several high profile crimes the worst among them being the Vesak day massacre of seven persons including the notorious gangster Kaduwela Wasantha followed a few days later by the broad daylight killing of three people in the Wattala area due to a personal feud. The killing of Gampaha Deputy Mayor, the kidnapping of a school girl for ransom at Kosgoda and several bank and payroll robberies have also put the spot light on the failure of the Police to tackle the rising tide in crimes in almost every part of the country. A senior police official himself acknowledged that the Police need to take the responsibility for the situation in the country without pointing the finger at politicians and saying that they were not being allowed to carry out their duties. "The Police have the power to act against criminals and they cannot abdicate their responsibility to anyone," the official said. As a first step to help restore the people's confidence in the law enforcement authorities, a special task force is to be appointed to combat crime, said Minister of Interior, John Amaratunga. He blamed social reasons such as poverty and unemployment for the high crime rate and said the free circulation of weapons was another reason. "The Police have acted fast to apprehend and charge those who are responsible for many of the crimes", the Minister said, adding that the Police force still needs manpower and resources. "We are going in for intensive training and recruitment," he said. However, others see this more as closing the stable door once the horse has bolted attitude. They say there are over 60,000 policemen on the force and the men are not being properly utilized to prevent the breakdown in the law and order situation. "Police personnel are no longer doing traditional police work such as patrolling the streets and going to courts and prosecuting criminals. Instead they are being used more for the security of a few individuals," a Police official said. "There are a lot of things wrong with the present system. There must be coordination from headquarters if the situation is to improve," a senior police officer said. With the easing of the security situation in the North and East, many of the security barriers in Colombo and its suburbs have been removed. Whether this move too has contributed to the organized criminals being free to roam without much fear of being detected is being looked into by the Ministry. Many of the crimes have been linked to deserters of the armed forces and some who are still serving in the forces. "Crimes have always been there, the only exception being that criminals are using modern techniques and getting bolder in their approach", SSP Mahinda Hettiaratchi, Director, Crime Division of the Police Headquarters said. He said that in the past the usual house break-in would take place in the night with the culprits entering through a window or a roof, but today they knock on your door, show you a weapon and walk off with the loot. The increase in the range of crimes has accelerated to such an extent, that prior to December 2001 there were only seven categories of crime reportable to Police Headquarters, however this has now been increased to 13.a The proliferation of sophisticated automatic weapons among unauthorized persons, mainly members of organized gangs and the inter-gang rivalries has led to the cycle of violence and resulted in killings such as that of Kaduwela Wasantha and six others. A rival gang
leader Karate Dhammika and eight others have been arrested in this
connection but only three have been positively identified. Despite
their arrest the many loop holes in the criminal laws mean they
will be roaming the streets soon. A United Nations (UN) team visited Sri Lanka earlier this year to assist with the task of collecting unauthorized weapons but a programme to this effect is still to get off the ground. The weak laws dealing with the possession of a weapon and organised crime too is contributing to the worsening situation. Minister Amaratunga admitted that the laws needed to undergo radical change. "The laws have to be tightened and even the courts have to ensure that the criminals are handed down the severest sentences possible", he said. The police have also been blamed for the lethargic attitude in which they have prosecuted criminals in recent years. "Some police officers feel that the setting up of the Independent Police Commission would help de-politicize the department and strengthen the hand of the law enforcement authority, but in reality it's the attitude of those entrusted with the task of combating crime that has to be changed," a senior official within the Department who wished to remain anonymous said. "A woman can walk alone in Chenni even at ten in the night but that is not possible in Colombo. The streets have to be made safe again," another official said. |
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