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Lab techs decry project failures due to lack of IT expertise 

15 Jun 2022

  • Claim costly Health Ministry IT projects failing due to non-recruitment of specialised personnel 
  • Allege 90% funding from WHO/ADB/WB going to waste 
BY Buddhika Samaraweera The College of Medical Laboratory Science (CMLS) has claimed that at a time when the global health sector is being digitised, the Ministry of Health has not recruited any officers with expertise in information technology (IT), and that the same has resulted in the failure of many IT-related projects carried out by the Health Ministry at huge costs. Speaking to The Morning, CMLS President Ravi Kumudesh claimed: “There is not a single IT expert in the Ministry at present, which is why the Ministry has wasted billions of money on IT projects. Although there are many officers who are said to be IT officers at hospitals and the Ministry, they have no expertise in IT. They are Medical Officers (MOs), who have expertise in a totally different field.” He said that due to the appointment of MOs as IT officers instead of those with expertise in IT, a large sum of money is being wasted. As a result of such appointments, he claimed that not only would the MOs not be able to carry out their primary duty of treating patients, but IT projects carried out at huge costs would also fail. “Over the past five years, the Ministry has not properly utilised billions of money spent on information management systems, especially the funds provided by agencies, such as the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the World Bank (WB). With such funding, the Ministry could have implemented high-quality IT projects, but 90% of such money has been wasted,” claimed Kumudesh. He further claimed that even the technical committees set up by the ministry to approve the implementation of IT-related projects are made up of MOs, and not of IT experts. He said that it is unfortunate that the ministry is acting in a lethargic manner in a situation where almost all other countries are working to establish a paperless, digitised health service. “At present, there are nearly 200 officials in the ministry who are paid for IT-related matters, but have no specialised knowledge of IT. Also at present, all countries are trying to digitise the health service. It is very quick and profitable, but it is unfortunate that our authorities are not interested in that,” he added. During a Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) meeting on 2 June, where the committee had summoned the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation (SPC), it was revealed that a software produced by EW Information Systems Ltd. (EWIS) for the Ministry to digitise medicine supply and distribution, had allegedly cost a sum of Rs. 644 million. SPC officials also claimed that Rs. 5 million had been paid to EWIS each month for the maintenance of the software. However, a day after the revelation, EWIS Chairman/CEO Sanjeewa Wickramanayake, addressing a media briefing, asserted that the software itself had only cost Rs. 83 million, and that the cost of the whole seven-year project to develop the software had been Rs. 223 million. Commenting on the matter at a recent media briefing, Medical and Civil Rights Professional Association of Doctors President Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa said that a question arises as to why it is not possible to set up this computer system with the intervention of a Government agency instead of a private company. He also called on Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, as well as the COPE Chairman and its members, to appoint an independent commission of inquiry into the matter. Ministry Secretary S. Janaka Sri Chandraguptha and the Ministry’s Communications Director Dr. Hemantha Herath were not available for immediate comment.


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