The health of the nation

These past couple of months, the former Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwelle has been much in the news. He has been arrested and remanded in connection with the case now before court about the 144 million rupee scam involving what were meant to be life-saving drugs. After his arrest, he sought admission to the prison hospital, claiming he was too ill to attend court.

One can only be sceptical about the so-called medical certificate that formally attests and confirms that this man, who until the end of January this year was fit and well enough to function as a cabinet minister, suddenly becomes too ill to serve his sentence in prison and has to be admitted as an inpatient to the prison hospital, deemed unfit to attend court. If ever there was a “Hora Medical” this one takes not just the cake but the whole bakery!

The antics of Keheliya got me musing about the various ministers of health that we have had in this country since independence, from honourable men like Sir Tikiri Banda Panabokke (who was elected to the State Council in 1931 and was our first health minister) to the current minister, Dr. Ramesh Pathirana (who, unlike his unqualified predecessor, is a physician with a medical degree from Peradeniya University).

It has been said that Prime Ministers often select their health ministers from among those of their colleagues to whom they have to give cabinet posts but whom they want to park in a non-influential portfolio, where they cannot mount a challenge to the PM. Margaret Thatcher had no less than seven such health ministers during her eleven years in office—harmless folk who would never challenge her for the leadership. Knowledge of health matters and good governance is seldom taken into consideration when a prime minister picks their health minister.

But in the early years, we in Ceylon/Sri Lanka were fortunate in the health ministers we had. Sir Tikiri was followed by another great philanthropist, Dr. W.A. de Silva, a qualified veterinary surgeon, and they were succeeded in turn by S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike, Dudley Senanayake, and Major Eddie Nugawela. These were men of integrity who took their responsibilities seriously and whom the people could respect.

The first health minister in the 1956 SLFP Cabinet was Vimala Wijewardene, a lady who instituted many changes for the better in our health system. At the time she took office, believe it or not, female specialists were not permitted to be in charge of hospital wards! It was she who changed all that, paving the way for the many excellent female specialists we have in our hospitals today.

Mrs. Wijewardena herself was succeeded by politicians who took their office seriously, cognizant that they had a responsibility to improve the health of our people. The list of our health ministers that followed included men and women of capacity and integrity, like lawyer A.P. Jayasuriya, surgeon Dr. M.V.P. Peiris, Siva Obeysekera and family physician Dr. Ranjit Atapattu. They understood health and did not look upon their cabinet post as an opportunity to exploit their public office for personal gain.

Unfortunately, from the turn of the century, a rot set in, and several of the subsequent ministers have proven by their conduct and the allegations made against them that they have acquired not just confidence in their own impunity, but the knowledge of how to utilise their positions to enrich themselves. It is alleged that the Rajapakse family set its ministers a great example to follow, accruing spectacular wealth through the granting of contracts to build infrastructure, the sale of government-owned land on very favourable terms, and the lucrative privatisation of state-owned enterprises.

Keheliya Rambukwelle is the last and worst of this long line of health ministers. This is a man who, entrusted with the task of obtaining effective medications to treat the sick patients in our land, oversaw the procurement of a consignment of fake medicines on forged papers. Using the economic crisis as a pretext, he bypassed the usual tender process to which the Department of Health must adhere in its procurements and authorised the purchase, not just of the vials of fake human immunoglobulin (a life-saving drug needed for immune-suppressed and cancer patients) but also of other types of medicine.

The sad fact is that we in this country have become indifferent to corruption. We have got so used to the sins of omission and commission committed by our elected representatives that we shrug these off with a “What to do – this is the way it is, noh?”

The emotional basis on which we cast our votes at the elections limits our political thinking. When politicians appeal to our feelings and emotions, we think with our hearts and not our brains. And this lack of critical judgement on the part of us voters provides us with members and ministers like Keheliya.

Stealing from the public purse is bad enough, but what truly saddens me is the repulsive and reprehensible behaviour of those who prey on the vulnerable.

The sad fact is that we in this country have become indifferent to corruption. We have got so used to the sins of omission and commission committed by our elected representatives that we shrug these off with a “What to do – this is the way it is, noh?”