There are a number of Organizations striving hard to improve the Health
and welfare of the people in the NorthEast of Sri Lanka. The health
organisations world wide came together to participate in a conference
facilitated by the Tamils Health Organization – UK in conjunction with
the Centre For Health Care Sri Lanka. This conference “Tamils Health –
Diaspora's role” took place on the 9 May 2004 at the Fairfield Conference
Centre London UK.
Ten
member delegation of Governmental and Non Governmental Health
professionals from Sri Lanka, joined participants from Australia,
Malaysia, France, Norway, Ireland, Canada and USA. Large numbers of
Medical and other professionals from UK provided an audience of four
hundred and the event was a great success.
The
Organisations which contributed to the success of the events consist of
THO –USA, THO-Norway, THO-Malaysia, TamMed-Australia, Medical Institute
For Tamils (MIFT) and Medical Institute of Tamils (MIOT).
The
delegates from Sri Lanka outlined the existing Health Service availability
in the NorthEast and highlighted the total lack of basic facilities. In
comparison with other parts of the country the health care provision for
the people of the NorthEast is severely compromised as a result of the
Civil War and gross lack of resource input. The delegates also pointed
out that in spite of the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding
and the resultant peace the progress in rebuilding the infrastructure of
the health Services has been very poor. The delegates also greatly
appreciated the massive contribution of the Diaspora towards health
projects during the difficult times and expressed the hope that this will
not only continue but will expand even further.
There were discussions around developing the primary, secondary, tertiary
and preventative healthcare facilities. The urgent need for a
well-equipped tertiary hospital was highlighted. Such a hospital will be
an ideal training facility for local health professionals and the local
community will benefit from the services provided by the expatriate
experts in a high standard institution.
The
health organisations representing the Diaspora outlined the activities so
far and listed their future plans. It was also felt that the efforts
should be properly coordinated to maximise the benefit of the
contributions from various organisations. The decision of the conference
was that this international coordination should be led by the THO-UK in
conjunction with the Centre for Health Care Sri Lanka.
The
conference concluded with a press brief. The follow up conference will be
held in Sri Lanka.
