Dr. Stanley Weeraratne.Former Professor, Ruhuna and Rajarata Universities.

Editor, Lankaweb,

I wish to refer to Mr. Bodhi Dhanapala’s piece titled Dr. Wimalawansa’s scathing attack on Sri Lanka’s superb management of Covid-19” posted on 2 Nov. 2020 in Lankaweb.

Mr. Bodhi Dhanapala (D) in his note alleges that Dr. Wimalawansa (W) tried to launch some cheap mixture of vitamins.  If Mr. D is fully aware of this mixture,  he should have indicated what these vitamins are without making false allegations. We in Sri Lanka have not come across any attempt by Dr. W to launch such a vitamin mixture.  Instead, Dr. W in his many presentations made during the last few months was highlighting the importance of Vitamin D in increasing the immunity to virus infections by getting exposed to sunlight which is freely available. In fact, in an article titled Combating COVID-19: Vitamin D the vital cog-in-the-wheel − by Saundarya Wellaboda Courtesy Ceylon Today, posted in Lanakweb as early as March 30th, 2020, Dr. Wimalawansa emphasized the importance of Vit. D  in increasing the immunity to COVID and suggested 30 to 45 minutes of daily exposure to direct sunlight between 9.30 AM and mid-day would generate an adequate amount of vitamin D to boost immunity. He did not say anything about a mixture of vitamins. If Mr.D cares to read the paper Strengthening the Immunity system with nutrients to overcome of infection written by Dr. Wimmalawansa and published in EC Endocrinology and Metabolic Research 5 (8) 1-7 2020, ,  he would realize the importance of vitamin D in increasing the immunity to infection.

Dr. W to his credit has a large number of peer-reviewed papers. The article Global epidemic of coronavirus—COVID-19: What can we do to minimize risks? European J. Biomed & Pharma Sci. (EJBPS), 7(3), 432-438, 2020.  authored by Dr W, written in January 2020,  is thought to be one of the first few publications of COVID-19 worldwide. Ref. https://storage.googleapis.com/journal-uploads/ejbps/article_issue/volume_7_march_issue_3/1584436192.pdf

During April 2020 Dr. Wimalawansa posted 48 Educational videos highlighting different aspects of Staying Healthy During V COVID-19 pandemic.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgcTivH1nGwymgX_cb0V4Mg

In some of these videos, Dr. W spoke about the importance of Vitamin D. There was no mention of selling a mixture of vitamins in these videos.  I think instead of making false allegations, we should appreciate  Dr. Wimalawansa’s contribution towards controlling/preventing COVID-19 in Sri Lanka. Mr. D may not realize the importance of Dr. W’s contribution because he lives in Canada far away from Sri Lanka.

Dr. Stanley Weeraratne.

Former Professor, Ruhuna and Rajarata Universities.