Medical Emergency In Sri Lanka

Main Category: Aid / Disasters
Article Date: 28 Apr 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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The lead Editorial in this week's Lancet discusses the desperate plight of civilians trapped in the war zone in the current conflict in Sri Lanka. It says: "The medical community, including the many Sinhalese and Tamil health professionals who work abroad, must denounce the wholly unacceptable actions of both sides of the conflict, who are committing atrocities against innocent civilians in their name. The international community should continue to put pressure on the government for a ceasefire to let more humanitarian agencies into the conflict zone and allow civilians to escape."

The Editorial highlights the inequalities that exist between the Tamil dominated northeast of Sri Lanka and the rest of the country, citing a report* from the Tamil Information Centre which shows, among other things, higher maternal and infant mortality in the northeast. The Editorial says: "The report suggests that several factors have contributed to these inequalities including violence, an economic embargo, human rights violations by all parties, shortages of health staff and medical supplies, and discrimination against Tamils."

It concludes: "Ultimately, the Sri Lankan Government needs to address these factors, many of which are also the underlying causes of the conflict, to protect the long-term health and security of all the country's ethnic groups. The international community must use all its collective power to press the government and the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam to find a peaceful political solution to finally end Asia's longest-running civil war, and its devastating effects on health."

Citation:
The Lancet Volume 373, Issue 9673 doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60796-0

Source
The Lancet

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