The
Minister of Health announced that a National Health Policy would be announced
on December 10th that will cover the next 5 years, more a 5 year
plan for the Health Service.
If
he is actually launching a Health Policy, he should have consulted all
stakeholders before unilaterally making any announcement.
In
any case it is admirable that the Govt. has allocated Rs125B in 2013 for the
health service. Let us take that as a starting point and determine that the funds
allocated are spent wisely.
For
example there is no disagreement that the procurement of drugs and consumables
for the health service is in a shambles, where corruption is rife and this
public money is wasted on a grand scale. Steps must be taken to bring this into
order, and unscrupulous tenders and unnecessary and time lapsed drugs not be
imported. After all we are all too aware that we import gloves at twice the
cost or more, than better quality surgical gloves that we export, because the
commissions and fraud is greater in this particular item.
Of
course the Minister maintained that the loss owing to this type of behavior is
small, but that is just what he would say, and instead of making petty
political points such as the opposition when in Govt. spent less than a quarter
of that is irrelevant, as the time was different, costs were less than half and
wastage was not at a maximum.
Oh
what a waste! Is the expression I use all the time. It is because if only we had
half the wastage in the Public Sector due to over invoicing, overcharging and payment
for work done poorly or not at all, we would be at a different level of growth and
return on investment.
It
is sad that despite the record amounts borrowed ostensibly to speed infrastructural
investment, when much of it is wasted on commissions and shoddy work, there is no
accountability on the part of the state. When the debts inevitably have to repaid,
it may be in the rule of another government which will have to make difficult and
unpopular decisions, owing to the profligacy of the present regime.
Let
us hope that for once the people in Sri Lanka will realize why!!
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