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| Sunday, 17 February 2002 |
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Volunteer Foreign plastic surgeons at Jaffna hospital by Tharuka Dissanaike A team of foreign plastic surgeons and para medical staff are presently working at the Jaffna Hospital, performing surgery on needy patients from the North. They are on a two week visit and hope to perform over 50 operations. Hospital sources said that more than 400 patients with natural disfigurement, war and bottle lamp burn victims came on the first day's screening held last Tuesday at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital. The plastic surgery team was sponsored by the German Help Foundation and doctors, from several countries are working voluntarily on the project. There is no resident plastic surgeon for the entire northern peninsula. The Jaffna Teaching Hospital has a mere five specialist doctors, including a single eye surgeon. "The hospital has an acute shortage of life saving drugs," Dr. Ms. Nawamani Kanakarathnam, Director of Jaffna Teaching Hospital said. The hospital did not stock soluble insulin and even oxygen, the main barrier being the strict regulations imposed by the defence authorities on medical equipment and medicine transfers to the North. The 1100-bed hospital suffered an acute shortage of nursing staff with over 150 vacancies out of a cadre of 400. "The cancer unit of the hospital is not functioning," said Dr. Ms. Sivapalasunderam, Provincial Director of Health. "There are no radiotherapists here and there is no pathologist for the lab either." The long time taken to obtain clearance from defence authorities for patients and doctors to fly out of Jaffna was another issue brought to the notice of Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena, Minister of Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Refugees, when he visited the hospital last week. "I have contacted the Ministry of Defence on this issue and they have promised to take measures to ease the passage of doctors and patients to and from Jaffna," the Minister said. In a communique issued last Thursday, The Defence Ministry announced plans to ease clearance regulations on medicines and equipment being transported to Jaffna but also said that all such shipments will be subject to security checks. |
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