Mutur East denied medical services

[TamilNet, Thursday, 27 December 2001, 19:56 GMT]
No proper medical and health service has been provided to Tamil villages in Mutur east areas which are not controlled by Sri Lankan troops in the Trincomalee district, said a report issued Thursday by the Trincomalee regional office of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCS).

"83 percent of the would be mothers in LTTE held villages in Trincomalee district deliver their babies in their homes without the assistance of trained midwives due to transport problems", said the report compiled by the regional office of the HRCS.

"This leads to deaths of newly born babies and mothers without proper medical assistance," several non-governmental organizations working in LTTE held villages point out.

In areas controlled by State armed forces about 90 percent of would be mothers deliver their babies in government hospitals, the HRCS report adds.

"In areas held by LTTE malnutrition has become a major problem amongst school children. School authorities report those children frequently faint in classrooms. They are unable to concentrate on their studies. Students do not attend schools regularly as they have been forced to help their parents in doing cultivation to enhance their daily income," the report points out.

The report further states that "a mobile medical service is urgently needed to transport patients from areas held by LTTE in the Muttur to hospitals in areas held by the State armed forces. An ambulance motor boat service should be conducted between Muttur and Trincomalee. It would greatly benefit the sick people to obtain medical assistance in emergency. Now it takes more than three hours to transport a patient from Muttur to Trincomalee by road. If a motor boat ambulance service is provided it would take about forty five minutes to transport a patient from Muttur to Trincomalee."