Acute shortage of medical facilities in Muttur-TNA MP

[TamilNet, Saturday, 15 January 2005, 23:07 GMT]
Tsunami victims staying in welfare centres located in Muttur and other Trincomalee district villages, and others staying with their relatives and friends are undergoing immense hardship in obtaining proper medical attention due to acute shortage of drugs, ambulances and staff in rural hospitals, stated Trincomalee district parliamentarian Mr.K.Thurairatnasingham in a letter faxed to Health Minister Mr.Nimal Sripala de Silva, sources in Trincomalee said.

He pointed out in his letter a case where a pregnant woman suffering from labour pain had delivered her baby while she was being taken to a dispensary in a vehicle as no ambulance was available.

"Since the outbreak of ethnic disturbance the health sector in the Trincomalee district has been facing difficulties in providing adequate medical service to the people of several villages. Now with the Tsunami disaster the situation has worsened. North East Provincial Council (NEPC) needs about thirty ambulances. Hospitals in Trincomalee, Thampalakamam, Kinniya, Muttur, Seruvila and Killiveddi are badly in need of ambulances as tsunami victims are to be transported for emergency treatment," said Mr.Thurairatnasingham in his letter.

Vehicles already available in some hospitals in the district, except for one or two, are all not roadworthy. Few are immobilised for want of major repairs. Others breakdown often while transporting seriously ill patients. Trincomalee district hospitals have not received a single ambulance out of eight donated to the NEPC by the World Bank, Mr.Thurairatnasingham said in his letter to the Health Minister.