‘Peramaga’ initiative establishes outdoor COVID-19 screening centres

From left: Colombo North Teaching Hospital Director Dr. Shelton Perera, Principal Donor Family Representatives Murtaza Esufally and Avanti Esufally, Director General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe, Air Vice Marshal Ruchira Samarasinghe, Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Lal Panapitiya, and Principal Donor Family Representative Imtiaz Esufally

From left: Principal Donor Family Representative Murtaza Esufally, Director General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe, and Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Lal Panapitiya​

• Affirms promise ‘Protection for you and our country begins here’

 The ‘Peramaga’ initiative has established purpose-built outdoor COVID-19 screening centres at the Colombo North Teaching Hospital in Ragama and the Panadura Base Hospital.

Principal Donor Family Representative Murtaza Esufally

Director General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe

Peramaga is a joint effort of professionals led by pharmaceutical and healthcare specialist Dr. Sanjay Perera; infectious diseases specialist Dr. Changa Kurukularatne, MD; celebrated former Sri Lankan cricketers Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene; and the Esufally family, founders of the now public-quoted Hemas Holdings PLC, together with the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services, and the Sri Lanka Air Force. 

The two centres make up the first phase of the initiative’s mission to help 33 Government hospitals mitigate risk of virus transmission by using outdoor screening centres and natural ventilation strategies, an idea proposed by Dr. Kurukularatne.

Such centres have been used effectively internationally during epidemics such as SARS to identify high-risk outpatients before they enter the hospital, thus minimising the risk of disease transmission to healthcare workers and other patients in the hospital. Treatment centres using natural ventilation strategies to manage severe respiratory infections is a concept endorsed by the World Health Organization.

Commenting on the initiative, Director General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe stated, “The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented crisis that requires innovative ideas in order for it to be defeated. Dr. Changa Kurukularatne is an expert in the field, and it is heartening that nation-minded Sri Lankans are coming together to bring his idea to life. We are most grateful that the Esufally family came forward to sponsor this pilot phase.”

Alongside the financial backing of the Esufally family, the Sri Lanka Air Force, led by Air Commodore Udula Wijesinghe, provided the engineering expertise and labour to build the structures, and a Hemas team led by Sanath Dassanayake contributed additional project management support.

Murtaza and Avanti Esufally said in a joint statement, “As a family, we have always believed in the necessity of equal access to a better quality of life for all Sri Lankans. In this respect, we believe it is vital to work toward the safety of the nation’s healthcare workers and the efficient identification of COVID-19 patients. We are truly humbled to be able to serve our country through this initiative. We thank the Ministry of Health and the Sri Lanka Air Force, in particular Dr. Lal Panapitiya, Dr. Anver Hamdani and Air Marshal Sumangala Dias, for supporting Peramaga, and for making the speedy implementation of the project a possibility.”

The ceremonial handing over of the Ragama Outdoor Screening Centre by members of the Peramaga initiative took place on 9 June at Ragama with the participation of Director General of Health Services Dr. Anil Jasinghe, Deputy Director General of Health Services Dr. Lal Panapitiya and Air Vice Marshal Ruchira Samarasinghe.

“The COVID-19 coronavirus’ ability to spread exponentially makes the early identification and isolation of possible patients all the more important. These outdoor screening centres will go a long way to protect the hospital staff and patients from infection, and we are fully geared to have the centres operational at the Hospital to combat the pandemic in the most effective manner,” Colombo North Teaching Hospital Director Dr. W.A.M. Shelton Perera stated.

The COVID-19 outbreak can only be controlled with the collective effort of all stakeholders in the country. The Peramaga initiative thanks Orange Electric, Celogen Lanka and Cool Power Holdings for their contributions and invites likeminded individuals and organisations to join its cause in strengthening the healthcare services and defeating this pandemic.