Sri Lanka Dengue
Dengue fever hits Sri Lanka
Colombo: The number of dengue patients has increased by 300 per cent compared to 2021 in Sri Lanka, a newspaper reported on Friday.
The President of the College of Medical Laboratory Science (CMLS), Ravi Kumudesh, told The Island that about 60,000 cases have been reported so far this year across the country.
“During the same time in 2021, fewer than 20,000 cases were reported. Most cases have been reported from the Western Province. Higher numbers are also reported from Kandy, Galle, Jaffna, Kegalle, Puttalam, and Kurunegala districts,” he said.
Kumudesh said 36 health divisions have been declared vulnerable areas. However, most government hospitals did not have testing kits to detect dengue, he said.
“The Ministry of Health has not paid a number of companies for testing kits purchased in the past. Now, these companies do not sell test kits to the Ministry of Health.
"In the meantime, Rs. 125 million earmarked for purchasing medicine in the 2022 third quarter has not been spent. Another $60 million are left in the Indian credit line to buy medicines. We can easily buy testing kits and reagents with this money,” he said.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
