Dr. Chula Rajapakse FRACP/FRCP  MNZM

A podcast  today from a front line doctor involved in Covid Control in Sri Lanka ,ended with call to seeing and staying positive

I agree with this doctor that a most important requirement  for Covid contra in SL was staying positive.

Sadly, the biggest impediment  to this as I see it are the politicians, social media and rumor mill that exaggerates the negatives and ignores the many positives in Covid control in SL today

For example,   the unprecedentedly  successful vaccination program even acknowledge  by WHO, has not and I suspect never will be acknowledged by these sources. The reason is politics

With their ever negative narrative they undermine compliance with COVID health management recommendations, including proper mask wearing, social distancing, avoiding crowded door locations and now the ultimate requirement vaccination. 

First the narrative was no vaccines, governments fault, Next it was, inferior Chinese vaccination. Now it is it’s administration by the army not withstanding the fact that they are from the highly trained army mdical corp. The epitome of this hypocrisy was the former Prime Minister decrying the army’s involvement in Covid control, having himself received his vaccination from an Army vaccination centre. Even yesterday 9th August,, over 70% of the 90 odd mortality had  not been vaccinated despite
over 13.8million vaccinations having been administered in SL by then. Had they got them selves vaccinated there is a god chance hat a majority of them would not have suffered that sad fate.

Yes this is the worst SL has experienced but far better what other parts of the. This was expected, warned of, the population was warned , adequate vaccination supplies have been secured, what was wanting was compliance

Some body asked me how NZ has kept Covid at bay successfully so far. The answer  was compliance with the same advice as a team of  five million, following the calls led by it’s Prime Minister.  The same calls in SL led by the political and health leadership , was undermined with a negative narrative on anything the govt does or calls for  by the political opposition , media and social media hence not listened to and not complied with by the populace, Sad but true.

Sri Lanka’s  negative narrative makes  it sound as if the epidemic in SL is the worst in the world  which is far from the truth.
For 20 million population the worst mortality so far was around 100. At that rate of 100 deaths per day for a 21 million population , a population of 350 million in the US should have a maximum mortality of about 1750. In reality 12/2/21 they had mortality of 5463 per day, more than three times SL ‘s worst . The numbers were similar in Italy, France & UK.. This bad experience in these countries  was even without the Delta variant . One can only imagine what it would have been had there been a Delta variant then. These countries improved only when vaccinations reached 60% levels .

As of 10/8/21 SL has 13.8 mil with single dose, 2.78mil double dose ie 12.7% of total pop fully vaccinated. ( 10/8/21  , the fully vaccinated population was over 3 million, 15 % of population.)Now, vaccinating  at rate of 1million every 3 days ,in 10 to 15 days the required 70% full vaccination for herd immunity  should be reached. The consequent population herd immunity should breached   two weeks ithere after ie I the first 2 weeks of September. Another FACT not advertised  and known much  is that Kalum Life Sciences, a BOI project in Kundasale, is awaiting WHO clearance to bottle Synopharm vaccine. This clearance is expected in Aug/Sept. They are ready to go into immediate production  thereafter,  to ensure uninterrupted vaccine supply , upto 100 million by end 2021

This would be music for the ordinary people of SL but terrible news for the prophets of gloom, unless they can manufacture another schema to undermine it and an equally catchy negative narrative to go with it.The present hike in numbers after having gone down to around 1500 cases per day and well below 50 deaths per day, coincides well with the aftermath of a  spate of demonstration, Uthhoshana’s , first staged by JVP & SJB against oil price increase on the road to partliament and other parts of the country,  there after the JVP inspired   Pora Diyaw , Diyaw” Uthgoshanas and the latest the dreaded Joseph Stalin led School Teachers and Principal’s Uthgoshana , more vociferous more deadly than any thing ever seen  in the original Joseph Stalin’s Russia.  And, they are still not done with these and so also not done with their covid consequences.

The country is facing the worst emergency in it’s recent history. Surely ,isn’t  it time to invoke emergency regulations to stop these ongoing super spreader events 

What we are seeing now is on the one hand is the govt trying it’s best to contain Covid  and opposition politicians doing the best to undermine it and project the blame on govt.

This hypocrisy has to be exposed if SL is to reap the harvest excellent vaccination program . Sadly lacking is an attendant and effective  media program to keep on  the negative campaign at bay..

The Col South hospital pts being in lawn happened for one day , during a transition phase, got all the social media attention but not  it’s clearance in one day nor the addition of two more wards for COVID at Col South & Col North Ragama and six dedicated wards for National Hospital Colombo and many more wards all over the country. Also highlighted in social media  were patients on the floor. Floor patients  have been the order of the day in SL hospitals form time immemorial . I remember the days when as a junior doctor over fifty years ago  during the daily  ward round , the floor patients,  would come upto a bed  in turn for examination. Recent negative narrative has tried to make out that it never happened before! 

What SL needs is a relentless, relentless, relentless, media and social media, media and social media, campaigns to get Sri Lankans  to practice Covid health care practices ( hand sanitisation, proper use of masks, social distancing and avoid crowded indoor locations) and get vaccinated at the centres that are abundantly available now.

This is the message that should be orchestrated and orchestrated by the govt , drowning out the oppositions  negative narrative undermining it. 

Do so  & stay positive, for  there is definitely light and life at the end of the tunnel. 

Dr. Chula RajapakseMNZM
FRACP/FRCP
10/8/21