Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa, President of the Government Medical Officers’ Forum (GMOF)—an alliance of doctors’ unions focused on medical and civil rights—states that trade unions will no longer tolerate fraudulent activities within the health sector. He stated that numerous issues persist in the health sector under the current administration, noting that patients have faced significant hardship recently due to the controversy surrounding cancer vaccines.
He pointed out that a problematic situation had arisen regarding a sticker on imported vaccines and that the Medicines Regulatory Authority had held a media briefing on the matter.
He remarked that the briefing failed to disclose who had requested the importation of these drugs and questioned why no action was taken against the company involved if the importation itself was improper. He asked what the purpose of laboratory testing was if the medication could not be administered without the specific label attached. Consequently, he suggested that the media briefing was merely a move by the Regulatory Authority’s Chairman to absolve himself of responsibility.
Specialist Dr. Chamal Sanjeewa stated that a “shadow regime” exists within the Ministry of Health and that organizations led by him have long been calling for its removal; he emphasized that cleansing the health system is essential before the arrival of the “Family Doctor” initiative.