FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 2, 2005
AS-94-2005
A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
Meningitis caused by neglect and the responsibility of Sri Lanka’s religious leaders
Medical negligence in Sri Lanka has made headlines again, with at least two persons dead and 12 others diagnosed with meningitis in recent weeks. The disease was allegedly caused by contaminated syringes and needles distributed by the health ministry.
This medical negligence has revealed other systemic negligence: the necessary process of quality control in importing medicines was overlooked when custom authorities approved consignments arriving in the country. Yet again, a public authority in Sri Lanka–in this instance the health authority–has neglected safeguards normally adopted in any country to protect the rights and lives of people. This is possible only when public services are corrupt and no longer interested in serving the public. The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has in the past reported on other instances of gross medical negligence; taken together, these cases speak to the serious malfunctioning of the health care system in the country.
Sri Lanka is said to be a country with a religious culture. It must be asked how such a culture reconciles with the total neglect and lack of respect for the right to health, which is firmly linked to the right to life and dignity. Has religious thought so alienated itself from basic notions of humanity?
The silence of good people contributes more to the spread of injustice than unjust acts. Societal neglect of the type witnessed now in Sri Lanka would not take place if persons representing higher ideals made their voices heard regarding the wrongs taking place around them. Meningitis caused through neglect is not merely a symptom of bad health care, but also of a society that has resigned itself to suffer adversity without resistance.
The framework of official neglect, which is strengthened by social lethargy, can thus be broken by conscientious persons who believe they have a duty towards each other and the society. In practical terms, this could be done through initiating teachings at every Buddhist temple, Hindu kovil, Christian church and Muslim mosque, as well as other ways of expressing concern on the undermining of the right to health within the country. A public authority does not die a natural death; if it is dying, it is because it is being killed, and the whole of society participates in such killings. Those persons who died of meningitis or other medical negligence have in fact been killed, not only by those who administered faulty equipment or medicine, but everyone in society who made such neglect possible.
The Asian Human Rights Commission thus calls upon individuals of all faiths to make their voices heard on the issue of health care in the country and its effective administration. In remembrance of those who paid with their lives for professional and societal neglect, perhaps an oil lamp or candle could be lit in all homes and places of worship.
