COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office

SRI LANKA 7 MARCH 2012
―HIV prevalence in Sri Lanka is relatively low: The latest government figures (December
2009) indicated 1,196 cases - less than 0.1 percent of people aged 15-49, and less than
1 percent of those in high-risk groups.
―However, accurate assessment of HIV prevalence is difficult as social stigma and lack
of knowledge make HIV prevention and information campaigns difficult. UNAIDS
estimates the total number of infections is at least three times higher than indicated by
official figures.
―The stigma around HIV makes HIV-positive people reluctant to disclose their status or
even get tested, warned a joint report by UNAIDS and the Family Planning Association
of Sri Lanka entitled People Living with HIV Stigma Index Sri Lanka.‖
CANCER TREATMENT
23.15 A letter from the British High Commission (BHC) in Colombo dated 29 January 2012 454
reported on a visit to the Maharagama Cancer Institute in Western Province and the
meeting held with Dr Yasantha Ariyaratne, the senior Consultant Clinical Oncologist:
―He explained that the Cancer Institute is the main public hospital for the treatment of
cancer in Sri Lanka and the only establishment solely dedicated to this purpose. He
explained that the hospital has 789 beds, caters for 878 day-care patients. We were told
that the medical team included 24 radiotherapy oncologists, 4 paediatrician oncologists,
3 surgical oncologists, 3 gynaecological oncologists, 1 haematologist (plus haematology
students from the College of Sri Lanka), 1 general physician, 2 senior anaesthetists
(there are always 4 junior anaesthetists available) and more than 150 medical officers.
The institute provides chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgical treatment for cancer
patients and possesses 1 linear accelerator and brachytherapy equipment. We were
informed that all of the senior consultants had been trained and worked in the UK, USA
or Australia at some stage and that many were well versed in the British NHS system.
―Dr Ariyaratne stated that there were cancer units within public sector hospitals in Kandy
and Galle (both teaching hospitals), and in Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Badulla and
Kurunegala. Surgical, chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment was available at all of
these hospitals, apart from Kurunegala, where only surgical and chemotherapy
treatments were available along with cobalt therapy. There are surgical oncologists
based at Kandy, Anuradhapura and Batticaloa. We were told that there were no bone
marrow transplant facilities available in the public sector in Sri Lanka.‖
23.16 The BHC letter of 29 January 2012 455 further reported:
―Within the private sector, Dr Ariyaratne said that there was chemotherapy, radiotherapy
and surgical therapy available at hospitals in Colombo and Kandy. The private sector
could also provide some stem cell transplants, although this was limited. The main
hospitals providing cancer treatment were Ceylinco Hospital and the Oasis Hospital,
both in Colombo. He added that the Ceylinco Hospital had a linear accelerator.
Ceylinco‘s own website www.ceylincohealth.com states that ‗The Ceylinco Healthcare
453 Irin, Sri Lanka: Stigma stifles HIV reporting, 28 December 2010
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=91467 date accessed 2 June 2011
454 British High Commission (BHC), Colombo letter dated 29 January 2012
455 British High Commission (BHC), Colombo letter dated 29 January 2012
176 The main text of this COI Report contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February 2012.
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section
to 2 March 2012.