Politicians or not, no one would be able to fulfil their objectives by threatening the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC). The SLMC is not scared of anything or anyone accept the religion of justice, SLMC President Prof. Carlo Fonseka said.
Addressing a press conference held at the SLMC Head Quarters in Colombo yesterday, he said that nothing could be done by the SLMC by making its members scared. The recent bomb attack was the seventh such attack launched on the SLMC since 2002. The SLMC ensures the safety of its patients through quality medical education and maintaning the discipline of doctors.
According to Prof. Fonseka, the Western medical practice came to Sri Lanka in 1870 and the SLMC was established in 1925. But various attacks on the SLMC commenced in the 21st century. SLMC is the highest authority in Sri Lanka which could access and decide technical matters in connection with higher education in medicine. Nothing or no one is above the SLMC in connection with the subject. The SLMC sent a team of 10 experts to SAITM in 2015 and compiled a complete report on it even though SAITM's legality is questionable. Former Vice Chancellor of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura Prof. Narada Warnasuriya said that SAITM did not follow relevant rules, regulations and the process to obtain degree awarding status. The degree awarding status was offered to SAITM through `other' means. But the Kotelawala Defence Academy Medical Collage did not do so. It is the National Defence Academy in Sri Lanka which followed all relevant rules, regulations, procedures and systems that apply to all other state medical faculties in order to become a Medical faculty.
All medical students who pay for their education in these institutions are foreigners or dual citizenship holders. This medical faculty functions just as any other state medical faculty in Sri Lanka. It offers clinical training for its medical students through leading State Teaching Hospitals such as Sri Jayewardenepura Teaching hospital, Colombo South (Kalubowila) Teaching Hospital, etc. Therefore it cannot be compared with a private medical faculty, he said.
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