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AIDS treatment costs slashed
The cost of treating HIV/AIDS patients in Sri Lanka has been slashed by more than sixty percent following a decision by the government to import anti retro viral drugs under generic names from India, an official said.

Dr. Shantha Hettiararchchi, Co-ordinator of the Health Ministry's AIDS control unit said parallel importing of good quality drugs under generic names had slashed the cost of treating each patient from about Rs. 15000/- a month to Rs. 6000/- Today is World AIDS Day with the World Health Organization and others warning that with a staggering 42 million victims of HIV AIDS the pandemic is turning into the worst catastrophe for the world.

At present Sri Lanka is listed as a low -prevalence country with 436 recorded cases of HIV and 136 of them suffering from full blown AIDS.

The HIV patients are carriers of the virus while the AIDS victims are those whose immune system has been totally impaired.

Unofficially estimates indicate there are about 7200 HIV/AIDS patients in Sri Lanka.
But Dr. Hettiarachchi warned that with India recording some four million victims and emerging as the No. 1 in the AIDS pandemic, Sri Lanka needed to take effective measures for HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention.

Early symptoms of HIV/AIDS include constant headaches, vomiting and body aches . But those are common for other ailments also. Sometimes those early symptoms disappear and reappear years later. But then it might be full blown AIDS.

Tests for HIV/AIDS are carried out free of charge at the AIDS Control Unit clinic at de Saram Road in Colombo or at clinics in the 21 District Hospitals.

Today the AIDS control unit will conduct an HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention programme at the Colombo Town hall from 9.30 am. It will include poster and art competitions, a drama by Colombo University students and a bicycle race from Maharagama to Ratnapura and back to the Town Hall.

Dr. Hettiarachchi pointed out that Indonesia till recently had been listed as a low prevalence country. But suddenly it had boomed to alarming proportions with some 40,000 HIV/AIDS cases being reported now.

The AIDS scourge began in Sri Lanka with a foreigner being the first victim in 1987. With tourism booming again the danger to Sri Lanka is likely to grow unless effective preventive measures are taken immediately especially among school children.

Evans new Information Counsellor
Former president Ranasinghe Premadasa's press secretary Evans Cooray assumes duties tomorrow as Information Counsellor of the Sri Lanka High Commission in London.

Earlier an official of the Foreign Ministry was tipped to replace Second Secretary Sithara Khan who has been handling information work at the High Commission for the past three years.

Ms Khan, who is due to return to the foreign ministry next January after completing her turn of duty, was to have been succeeded by another young foreign ministry official.

However that appointment has now been cancelled and Evans Cooray, who for a long spell was with the Information Department and served Mr Premadasa even when he was a minister, has been recalled to take over the information job at counsellor level.
Earlier Mr. Cooray held the same post at the London mission. Shortly after the assassination of President Premadasa, his successor Dingiri Banda Wijetunga had Mr. Cooray posted to the High Commission here.

But with the election of Chandrika Kumaratunga some 18 months or so later, he was replaced. Since then he has been living in the UK.

However the post is being considered as an overseas appointment.

Questions over deaths in custody
The Kirindiwela police drew public attention during the past week due to the mysterious death of P. A. Piyadasa who was alleged to have accompanied the police on a raid and the death of Ranjith Karunaratne who allegedly died while in police custody.

According to the police, Mr. Piyadasa died of natural causes, but the family members say he was allegedly tortured by the police.

The case was taken up last Friday at the Pugoda Magistrate's Court when the JMO's report was to be considered. But the magistrate put off the reading the report till the rest of the inquiry is over.

Family members of the late Mr. Piyadasa said that a four member police team had come to their house on night of November 20 and had inquired from him as to where the illicit liquor was hidden and the whereabouts of the person who brewed the liquor.
As Mr. Piyadasa had not returned home even by late evening two family members had gone to the police station looking for him.

"He was not to be found there and the police failed to provide us with any answers", said Mr. Piyadasa's son.

"We returned to the police station again the next morning when the police informed us our father had passed away and his body was at the Wathupitiwala Hospital", said another of his sons

However the police denied allegations of torture made by the family members. They claim Mr. Piyadasa had collapsed while accompanying them on the raid and the police had rushed him to hospital in their jeep.

The family members ask why they were not informed when Mr. Piyadasa collapsed and before taking him to hospital.

In an earlier incident Ranjith Karunaratne an Army deserter who was arrested on charges of theft had been allegedly beaten and tortured by the Kirindiwela police.

Ranjith had later allegedly died inside the police jeep, his family members said.

While the police deny all charges of torture, they admit having to use force when putting handcuffs on Ranjith.

Sri Lankan appointed UNMOVIC legal adviser
Muttusamy Sanmuganathan, a Sri Lankan and an expert on international law and constitutional law has been chosen to serve the Council of Commissioners of the UN Monitoring Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) as a legal adviser and strategist.

He had been hand-picked for the UNMOVIC as Secretary because of his wide ranging experience and expertise knowledge he has established over the years serving in international and local organisations.

UNMOVIC's 100 member inspection team is expected to gather in Baghdad in December to begin work. The first assignment of the delegation was to re-open the commissions' sealed offices in Baghdad's Canal Hotel and then hold talks with the an Iraqi delegations to review Security Council Resolution 1441 and set the ground rules for technical inspections.

Mr. Sanmuganathan had been with UNNOVIC's 30 member advance party led by former Foreign Minister of Sweden Hans Blix when they tested the commission's launching pad and field office in Cyprus recently.

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