Lab facility expansion in limbo despite Pavithra’s orders

19 May 2021

Lab facility expansion in limbo despite Pavithra’s orders

19 May 2021

By Dinitha Rathnayake Though Minister of Health Pavithra Wanniarachchi has ordered that laboratory facilities in the country be increased, no discussion has been held towards achieving such, the Sri Lanka Association of Government Medical Laboratory Technologists (SLAGMLT) alleged. Speaking to The Morning, SLAGMLT President Ravi Kumudesh said that the Minister had given these orders on 12 May. However, according to Kumudesh, neither the Secretary to the Ministry of Health nor the relevant Deputy Director General had conducted a discussion with the relevant parties regarding Wanniarachchi’s orders. “This order was given 10 days ago during a meeting with the Minister after our proposal was presented. We proposed a methodology that could easily triple the PCR capacity. The Secretary to the Ministry of Health and the relevant Deputy Director General were directed to expedite the process of increasing the testing capacity, but so far neither of them, nor the Deputy Director General of Laboratory Services, have taken any action to discuss the matter with our Association." Speaking in Parliament yesterday (18), Wanniarachchi also said that orders have been given to increase lab facilities and the volume of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, and to establish a round-the-clock lab facility. She also added that this order was made a few days ago after a discussion with the relevant parties. However, Kumudesh claimed that even though the Minister has stated in Parliament that she has taken steps to increase the testing capacity, no steps have been taken to increase the testing capacity by even one-tenth of their current level. “Our staff is working hard to set up a 24-hour laboratory service at locations such as the Medical Research Institute (MRI), but in order to please some of the virologists there, the work of the nationally important MRI is limited to a few hours.” He claimed that in the health care service, which maintains 71 base hospitals and 493 District hospitals, the Ministry of Health does not provide the necessary facilities even though local PCR tests and Rapid Antigen Tests can be performed at any of these locations, and laboratory facilities and professionals are ready to perform such tests. “This is because they want to establish a PCR monopoly.” However, speaking to The Morning, Deputy Director General of Laboratory Services Dr. Sudath Dharmaratne said that the Ministry is already in the process of planning and implementing the proposal, and that it is a work in progress.

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Lab facility expansion in limbo despite Pavithra’s orders

Lab facility expansion in limbo despite Pavithra’s orders

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