Civil group draws attention to Mannar patients' woes

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 16 August 2005, 11:54 GMT]
The Mannar Citizens' Committee Tuesday wrote to the NorthEast Provincial Health Ministry Secretary to take immediate steps to transfer seriously ill patients and those needed surgical attention from Mannar government hospital to Vavuniya or Jaffna instead of transferring them to Anuradhapura hospital which is located in Sinhala speaking area, sources said.

"It is well known that patients of the Mannar district are Tamil speaking and are not conversant in Sinhala. The language issue has been a matter of concern for clear communication between the patients and the doctors. Further the surroundings and the environment in Anuradhapura are completely alien and unfamiliar to Mannar residents and they feel out of place and uncomfortable there," said Mr.N.Jeyabalasingham, Secretary of the Mannar Citizens' Committee in a letter to Provincial Health Ministry Secretary.

"Hence we recommend that patients from Mannar hospital should be transferred to general hospitals in Vavuniya or Jaffna depending on their needs and not to Anuradhapura unless absolutely necessary," said Mr.Jeyabalasingham.

Currently Mannar district hospital is functioning without an operating theatre and other modern facilities.

Recently an elderly Tamil woman patient who was sent to Anuradhapura hospital for emergency treatment was reported missing, citizen committee sources said.