Peniya exposes the tip of the iceberg of the problem

Health sector ministers promoting spurious syrups (S-R-D Peniyas’) is a rare exposure of the direct consequence of ‘politicisation’ and undermining of science by the politicians.

COVID-19 has a natural death rate of 4% whether you treat or not. What ‘Peniya’ is trying to do is it to give it to 100 people and claim benefit for curing or preventing 96 from dying. Science does exactly the opposite. Science wants to see clear evidence of any intervention that would prevent or curtail the four deaths.

The recent sacking of members of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) is another ‘tip of the iceberg’ consequence of attempts at politicization. The SLMC’s function is completely apolitical and its core duty is to ensure that the medical profession is disciplined to maintain the benchmarks and standards not just of academia or competence but also the behaviour.

The ultimate tool it uses to regulate is the ‘registration to practice’ medicine in Sri Lanka. The SLMC is expected to ensure that training programmes are fit for purpose and that criminals posing as doctors will have no access to patients.

What politicians want to do is to bring politics into this and create a pathway for their stooges to jump the queues or access facilities in demand at the expense of another citizen’s right. To do that they need a handle, at least to be able to threaten the doctors who do not comply with the erasure of their registration to practice. If they succeed, a day will come where the politicians decide who should not be given access to services such as intensive care or cardiac services. That would be the day of the demise of professionalism in our medical practice.

If the people are happy to be tolerant of these practices, not just in medicine but also in other professional services that need to maintain quality and discipline independently, that would be the beginning of the end of the ‘pearl’ of this Indian ocean.