While billions are allocated for the country’s security over education and health during a severe financial crisis, a leading women’s hospital in Sri Lanka has stopped the basic blood tests for patients due to a shortage of reactors.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe presented his maiden budget proposal to the Parliament on November 14 which has allocated 410 billion rupees for the Ministry of Defense while 232 billion rupees for the Ministry of Education and 322 billion rupees for the Ministry of Health has been set aside.
On the same day that President Ranil Wickremesinghe presented the 2023 budget proposal to Parliament, the director of the Castle Street Women’s Hospital informed the hospital staff in an internal note that the full blood test (FBC) in the hospital’s laboratory will be temporarily suspended.
“I am informing you that due to a problem in providing the reactors required to perform the FBC test in the hospital’s laboratory, the relevant test has been temporarily suspended in the hospital’s laboratory.”
In his letter addressed to all specialist medical personnel, chief special grade nurses, unit in-charge nurses, preterm infant unit, and intensive care, Dr. Ajith Dantanarayana, director of Castle Street Women’s Hospital had instructed them not to send the blood samples for the FBC test to the hospital laboratory until tests are resumed.
Castle Street Women’s Hospital is known as the island’s leading hospital for pregnant mothers and new-born babies.
