Committee appointed to probe conduct of SLMC

Minister of Health Pavithra Wanniarachchi today appointed a five member committee to look into the conduct of the Sri Lanka Medical Council.

The Committee was appointed after the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) today called on the Minister to investigate the conduct of former Acting Assistant Registrar of the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) Dr. Chandana Atapattu.

In a letter to Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi, the GMOA said Dr. Atapattu had recently met an outside party with confidential documents related to the Foreign Degrees Committee of the SLMC.

Dr. Attapattu had pretended to be the Acting Assistant Registrar of the SLMC at a time when his tenure had ended on 31st of July 2019, the GMOA charged.

There is a grave concern among general public regarding Foreign Degree Recognition of SLMC at present, it is unacceptable for Dr. Atapattu to meet outside elements, away from SLMC premises, with confidential documents belonging to SLMC.

This is especially so as Dr. Atapattu?s tenure as Acting Assistant Registrar has ended and therefore, he has no right to access confidential documents of SLMC, let alone sharing them with outside parties.

Furthermore, this type of underhand activity is highly disturbing at a time when you as the Minister of Health is spearheading the timely and all important task of establishing the independence and supremacy of the SLMC, ending the ?dark era? of recent past, the GMOA said in its letter.

The GMOA Executive Committee has requested the Ministry of Health to place Dr. Chandana Atapattu out of all activities of the SLMC as well as entering into the SLMC premises until a proper investigation is carried out in order to safeguard the independence and confidentiality of the Council.

The Ministry of Health?s immediate action in this regard will ensure the independence of the SLMC and evoke confidence and good will towards the SLMC by the medical fraternity in particular and Sri Lankan citizens in general, the GMOA added.

Recently, Russia had raised concerns after the SLMC decided to remove three prominent Russian State Universities from the SLMC Approved List without prior information.

The SLMC had thereafter announced that the delisting of three Russian State Universities from the SLMC Approved List, was a mistake. (Colombo Gazette)