Sustainable policies

Monday, 24 September 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

POLICIES that are filled with loopholes are the bane of a nation. Thousands of laboratories spew out millions of tests every year but legislation that was introduced in 2007 concerning all national health laboratories left out one crucial point – standards.

Despite the fact that more than 3,000 private medical laboratories function in the country, the lack of legislation and regulations to monitor them has resulted in the Health Ministry receiving innumerable complaints regarding the quality of the services provided by them.

To address this problem the Health Ministry is in the process of drafting the ‘National Health Laboratory Act’, which will mainly focus on the establishment and maintenance of medical labs and the Health Ministry’s ability to regulate, monitor and control private medical labs. All private medical labs will need to be registered with the Health Ministry’s Laboratory Services, with Medical Officer’s of Health (MOH)’s vested with supervisory powers.

Health Ministry’s Deputy Director General (Laboratory Services) Dr. M.G.P. Samarasinghe has told reporters that the National Health Laboratory Policy was introduced in 2007, but there was no Act stating that medical labs should be registered and health authorities were not vested with powers to make inspections and take action.

This brings one to the heart of the issue. The gross oversights made by policymakers in not considering the deadly impact leaving loopholes in the laws will mean to the people. Granted that if the law was empowered for laboratories to be registered there would have to be provisions to monitor and punish lackadaisical laboratories. Yet given the fact that there are already over a million public servants adding a few more in the interests of the people would not have been a problem for the government. Perhaps there might even have been a way for an efficient system to be put in place.

Laboratories and pharmacies are two establishments that leave the public on the edge – literally. On one hand the government cannot be expected to be responsible for every pharmacy or laboratory that sets up. Yet there is undoubtedly the need to set up policies so that wronged parties can take action and make the owners responsible for not meeting standards and employing responsible people. If even this option is not available the people have no recourse left.

It also causes an unfair situation where either patients have to resort to a laboratory such as those run by prominent private hospitals that may charge them extra or give up access to affordable healthcare altogether. The options are unacceptable and set a terrible cloud over Sri Lanka’s famed free healthcare system.

Policies need to be fair, consistent and in the best interests of the people. The massive waste and mismanagement of the healthcare as well as the overwhelming power of unions have pushed a truly valuable service to the brink of chaos. Fortunately Sri Lanka seems able to exist within this confusion and maintain itself at a moderate level. Monitoring the standards of 30,000 laboratories is yet another way for the health sector to make its mark. Hopefully it will be done efficiently and sustainably to save the lives of millions.