Facing crisis upon crisis, Sri Lanka running out of life-saving medicine

Special Facing crisis upon crisis, Sri Lanka running out of life-saving medicine
Sri Lankan government medical officers protest outside the national hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka, April 7, 2022. (AP Photo)
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Updated 12 June 2022

Facing crisis upon crisis, Sri Lanka running out of life-saving medicine

Facing crisis upon crisis, Sri Lanka running out of life-saving medicine
  • Cash-strapped island country imports more than 80% of its medical supplies
  • Drug prices surge as doctors warn of distribution delays

COLOMBO: Wasana, a 16-year-old kidney transplant recipient in Sri Lanka, relies on vital medicine to prevent transplant rejection.

But as Sri Lanka’s public health system bears the brunt of the country’s worst economic crisis in memory, Wasana’s family now faces the dual challenge of sourcing new tablets and finding the money to pay for them.

“We can’t not give it to her,” Wasana’s older sister, Ishara Thilini, told Arab News. “In the areas we live in we don’t even have that medicine.”

Most hospitals in Sri Lanka are struggling to provide the universal healthcare that the country was once lauded for, leading to patients like Wasana having to find essential medication elsewhere.

“We are hanging on. But there will be a limit to how long we can do that,” Thilini said.

The devastating economic crisis that has led to political turmoil and ongoing mass protests is now spilling over into the healthcare service and exposing patients to unprecedented vulnerabilities, as doctors warn that they are running out of vital medical supplies and medicines.  

The country defaulted on its $51 billion foreign debt for the first time in history last month, as inflation rose to a record high of 39.1 percent. The island nation of 22 million is suffering from shortages of essentials, including food, fuel and drugs.

Sri Lanka imports more than 80 percent of its medical supplies, but with foreign currency reserves running out due to the crisis, hospitals are facing worsening shortages and a reliance on foreign donors.

There is a lack of anesthesia, oxygenators and even betadine in some government hospitals, two anonymous doctors told Arab News. They declined to be named because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

“It’s a very difficult situation for us right now when we can’t do what we need to do,” one said. “It is the patients who are suffering.”

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health said that there is a drug shortage and obstacles in procuring essential supplies.

“We need about $32 to 34 million for monthly (drug) expenses, and we are hoping this will come in through donations,” Dr. Hamdani Anver, a Ministry of Health official in charge of coordinating healthcare donations, told Arab News.

Even with help from abroad, the Government Medical Officers’ Association, a trade union of government doctors, said that coordination has been ineffective.

“There is a drug shortage. There has been intervention from the World Health Organization and friendly countries, and expats are also helping at the moment,” Dr. Naveen De Zoysa, GMOA assistant secretary, told Arab News.

“But the ministry has failed to coordinate and there have been delays in distributions.”

Nafeel Jefferey of community development and social welfare nonprofit Care Station said that he has noticed more and more people seeking assistance from the charity.

“We have a website portal and people can enter their needs. Day-by-day numbers are increasing,” Jefferey told Arab News.

There is also a price surge in medicines, he said, as drugs that used to cost about $14 monthly just eight weeks ago now cost about $21.

“There is a shortage of medicines, but more severe is the price hike,” Jefferey added.

Dr. Sanjeeva Gunasekera, a pediatric oncologist at the National Cancer Institute, said that support from foreign donors has been key in keeping things afloat at his hospital.

“So we have been able to procure (medicines). Simply because of this, we have been able to manage without drastically changing treatment plans,” Gunasekera told Arab News.

But drugs are just one part of the medical shortages, he added. There is also a huge need for other medical essentials, such as cannulas and syringes, which are necessary to perform surgeries.

“This is the unseen side of the medical shortage,” he said. 


‘Jihadi Hipster’ jailed for life by UK court

‘Jihadi Hipster’ jailed for life by UK court
Updated 18 sec ago

‘Jihadi Hipster’ jailed for life by UK court

‘Jihadi Hipster’ jailed for life by UK court
  • Shabazz Suleman fled to join Daesh in Syria as a teenager in 2014 while holidaying in Turkiye
  • Promising student claims he was ‘brainwashed’ by group, spent time playing computer games

LONDON: A British man has been jailed after spending three years fighting with Daesh in Syria.

Shabazz Suleman, from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, had been a promising student in the UK, having recently completed his high school exams and been accepted onto a course to study at Keele University before he disappeared while on a family holiday in Turkiye in 2014.

He was detained by Turkish forces trying to cross into Syria, before being exchanged as part of a prisoner swap with Daesh in return for two Turkish diplomats.

Suleman, who was 18 at the time, styled himself as the “Jihadi Hipster,” a moniker he used on social media site Twitter. Adopting the name Abu Shamil Al-Britani, he became “disillusioned” with life under Daesh within a year, claiming the group targeted other Muslims and used its fighters as “cannon fodder.”

Ten months into his stay he was jailed by the group in Raqqa for refusing to fight. He was later released after agreeing to join Daesh’s security wing Amniyat.

Suleman was captured again by Turkish-backed forces in October 2017, and later traveled to Pakistan. He returned to the UK in 2021, where he was detained.

Suleman pleaded guilty to preparing acts of terrorism in April, and was sentenced to life with a minimum of nine-and-a-half years.

During his trial he claimed he spent most of his time with Amniyat playing computer games, but Judge Mark Lucraft KC said he must have known he was “supporting a terrorist organization that engaged in indiscriminate violence against civilians.”

The court heard that after joining an aid convoy to Syria in 2013, he told a friend he wanted to “go deeper where it’s more dangerous,” and that he had been visited by local police when his trip to the country was revealed.

He celebrated the deaths of journalists at the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2015 on Twitter, and also detailed his life under Daesh, as well as posting an image of an alleged spy who was beheaded and crucified by the group. In another message he claimed he wanted to “behead some Americans.”

After disappearing on holiday, Suleman contacted his family to tell them: “I’m doing this for Allah, no one else. I’m not brainwashed or anything. I’ve been planning this for months.”

In 2015 he told journalists at The Times he had become “disillusioned” and was “brainwashed,” adding: “I found myself falling for the propaganda of (Daesh). Eventually, I no longer knew who I was.”

After he was captured in 2017, he told Sky News: “I take responsibility. I was with (Daesh), I was with a terrorist organization. But I didn’t kill anyone, I hope I didn’t oppress anyone. I did have a Kalashnikov and a military uniform, but I didn’t hit anyone.”

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC said: “It is clear from the evidence that the defendant fully appreciated before he set off that he would be joining and supporting a terrorist organization which engaged in indiscriminate violence against civilians.

“He was warned not to go, due to the danger, and was told that there was a risk to his life as a UK national. He thus knew very well before traveling how harshly (Daesh) would treat foreigners who did not support (it), and in particular how it treated non-believers.”


Ukraine says Russia eases Bakhmut attacks, Kyiv talks up counteroffensive

Ukraine says Russia eases Bakhmut attacks, Kyiv talks up counteroffensive
Updated 27 May 2023

Ukraine says Russia eases Bakhmut attacks, Kyiv talks up counteroffensive

Ukraine says Russia eases Bakhmut attacks, Kyiv talks up counteroffensive
KYIV: Russian forces have temporarily eased their attacks on the besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut to regroup and strengthen their capabilities, a senior Kyiv official said on Saturday.
Separately, senior Ukrainian officials indicated their forces were ready to launch a long-promised counteroffensive to recapture territory taken by Russia since the start of the war.
Russia’s Wagner private army began handing over positions to regular troops this week after declaring full control of Bakhmut following the longest and bloodiest battle of the war.
In a statement on Telegram, Ukraine Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Russian forces were continuing to attack but that overall offensive activity had decreased.
“Yesterday and today there have not been any active battles — neither in the city nor on the flanks,” she wrote, adding that Moscow’s troops were instead shelling the outskirts and approaches to Bakhmut.
“The decrease in the enemy’s offensive activity is due to the fact that troops are being replaced and regrouped,” Maliar said. “The enemy is trying to strengthen its own capabilities.”
Kyiv is expected to soon launch a highly anticipated counteroffensive to retake Russian-occupied territory.
Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, told the British Broadcasting Corporation that the push could begin “tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or in a week.”
Presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak, speaking to Britain’s Guardian newspaper, said preliminary operations such as destroying supply lines or blowing up depots had already begun.
Ukraine’s top general, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, posted a sleekly produced video on Saturday showing Ukrainian troops swearing an oath and preparing for battle.
“The time has come to return what is ours,” he wrote.

Charity vessel rescues almost 600 migrants off Italy

Charity vessel rescues almost 600 migrants off Italy
Updated 27 May 2023

Charity vessel rescues almost 600 migrants off Italy

Charity vessel rescues almost 600 migrants off Italy
  • "After three hours of operation, the 599 survivors, including women and children, are now safely aboard ... and being cared for by the medical team," MSF tweeted
  • The migrants will be disembarked in the southern port of Bari, as assigned by the Italian authorities

ROME: A vessel operated by the charity Doctors without Borders (MSF) rescued nearly 600 migrants sailing on an overcrowded boat which was in distress off the island of Sicily on Saturday, the group said on Twitter.
“After three hours of operation, the 599 survivors, including women and children, are now safely aboard ... and being cared for by the medical team,” MSF tweeted, saying its vessel the Geo Barents had been conducting training activities when it was called in to undertake the rescue.
The migrants will be disembarked in the southern port of Bari, as assigned by the Italian authorities, MSF said, adding it would take around 40 hours to reach the port.
Charities have criticized the Italian administration of Giorgia Meloni, which takes a tough stance against illegal immigration, saying it often assigns ports too far away from the areas where rescues take place.
More than 47,000 migrant landings have been recorded in Italy so far this year, up from around 18,000 in the same period of 2022, interior ministry data show.


Man arrested over Downing Street collision faces indecent images charge

Man arrested over Downing Street collision faces indecent images charge
Updated 27 May 2023

Man arrested over Downing Street collision faces indecent images charge

Man arrested over Downing Street collision faces indecent images charge
  • The 43-year-old appeared in court on Saturday in relation to the images and was remanded in custody
  • London police reiterated the collision was not being treated as "terror-related"

LONDON: London police said on Saturday that a man arrested after a car collision into the gates of Downing Street, the site of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office, had been separately charged with making indecent images of children.
The 43-year-old appeared in court on Saturday in relation to the images and was remanded in custody to next appear at Southwark Crown Court on June 23, police said in a statement.
He had been taken into custody on Thursday on suspicion of criminal damage and dangerous driving after the Downing Street incident, in which no injuries were reported. Police said he had been released pending further investigation into that incident before giving details of the other charge.
London police reiterated the collision was not being treated as “terror-related” but said officers from its counter-terrorism wing were supporting its investigation.
Police placed a cordon outside Downing Street on Thursday after a vehicle approached the gate at a low speed. The main gate had appeared undamaged after the incident.


Russia blames US, EU for escalating tensions in Kosovo

Russia blames US, EU for escalating tensions in Kosovo
Updated 27 May 2023

Russia blames US, EU for escalating tensions in Kosovo

Russia blames US, EU for escalating tensions in Kosovo
  • The clashes led Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Friday to place the army on full combat alert
  • Serbia and its traditional ally Russia do not recognise Kosovo's independence

KOSOVO: Russia on Saturday blamed Kosovo, the United States and European Union for escalating tensions in the Balkans and said it was watching with concern after violent clashes between Kosovan police and protesters opposed to ethnic Albanian mayors.
The United States and allies on Friday rebuked Kosovo, saying the use of force to install mayors in ethnic Serb areas undermined efforts to improve troubled relations with neighboring Serbia. NATO on Saturday urged Kosovo to dial down tensions.
The clashes led Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Friday to place the army on full combat alert and ordered units to move closer to the border.
“We decisively condemn Pristina’s provocative steps, which have brought the situation close to the hot phase and directly threaten the security of the whole Balkans region,” Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
“The responsibility for this lies fully with the United States and the European Union,” she said, adding that rebukes of Kosovo by “Western mediators” had come too late.
Serbia and its traditional ally Russia do not recognize Kosovo’s independence, and Moscow has blocked the country’s bid to become a member of the United Nations. Serbia still considers Kosovo part of its territory.