The first batch of successfully repaired, modernized, and redesigned medical equipment was officially handed over to the Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Hospital in Ragama during a ceremony presided over by Minister of Science and Technology, Chrishantha Abeysena.

According to the Ministry of of Science and Technology, this milestone comes under a wider initiative launched to upgrade the hospital’s medical equipment and technological infrastructure, carried out under the direct guidance and intervention of Prof. Abeysena in his role as Chairman of the Gampaha District Health Committee.

The modernization and repair drive is being implemented with the expert collaboration of the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Modern Technologies (ACCIMT). The ministry noted that the program aims to strengthen healthcare delivery by ensuring advanced, reliable equipment is available to patients and medical staff.

The initiative was set in motion following an inspection tour of the hospital by Minister Abeysena. Recognizing the urgent need to restore unutilized assets, the Minister requested the intervention of the ACCIMT, whose engineering team promptly stepped forward to undertake the task. 

The restored inventory includes highly specialized medical and technical apparatuses such as: IR Timers with Power Supplies, Industrial Ovens, Patient Standing Aid Units, Multi-monitors, Grinder Machine Control Panels, Power Units for Tilting Beds & Tilting Bed Controllers, Heat Guns and Rotary Tools. 

Due to exorbitant repair estimates from external vendors, the dissolution of original manufacturing companies, and a lack of local technical capability, these essential items had been decommissioned and left idle for a prolonged period. 

Technical equipment worth nearly Rs. 3,000,000.00 (Three Million), which had been completely written off, was successfully restored by the specialized engineers of the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for a mere Rs. 5,000.00. The ministry added that had these engineers not stepped forward to take on the challenge, these vital medical assets would have been permanently lost to the hospital. 

A second batch of technical equipment is currently undergoing modernization by the ACCIMT team. Furthermore, responding to specific requests made by hospital authorities, the engineers have agreed to upgrade and redesign specialized assistive care equipment to better serve physically disabled patients. 

To ensure the sustainability of this initiative, a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will soon be signed between the Ministry of Health and Media and the Ministry of Science and Technology to streamline future technical support. (Newswire)

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The Ministry of Health has withdrawn the entire batch of a particular medicine after a 23-year-old woman had died due to an allergic reaction from the said medicine at the Colombo North Teaching Hospital in Ragama recently.

According to Daily Mirror, the woman who was admitted on June 27 for infection had been orally administered the antibiotic, but as she had shown no response, she was readministered the medicine in the form of a vaccine.

The woman had then developed complications due to an allergic reaction to the medicine after which she was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital.

Hospital Director Dr. S. Liyanage Ranaweera revealed that the patient had developed a severe allergic reaction (anaphylactic shock) and was treated at the ICU for nearly eight hours before she succumbed.

Dr. S. Liyanage Ranaweera acknowledged that there are instances in which patients develop complications due to allergic reactions to medicines and that these are isolated incidents.

However, the Ministry of Health has taken measures to withdraw the entire batch of the said medicine following the death of the young patient.

The incident comes at a time when concerns have been raised over similar deaths at other state hospitals in the country recently. (NewsWire)

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