Published on - 11/22/2004
The Sri Lanka Army, conscious of the well-being of the common masses whose interests are always defended at the risk of their own lives, no matter wherever they are, is once again at the forefront as one and only organ of the Armed Forces that could donate so much of blood for use of patients in the country.
The Army, wherever they are deployed, quickly responds to emergency medical requirements of the needy, no sooner than they were intimated to them by relative parties. It was once again the soldiers in Vavuniya who took the lead this time following an initiative launched by Major General P. S. B Kulathunga, Commander Security Forces Headquarters, Wanni with active support received from Kandy Rotary Club, Intrer Wheel Club, Kandy, Help Age Sri Lanka, Elbert Edirisinghe and D. S Jayasinghe opticians and a few other organizations. The day marked the commencement of several health-service camps.
Ninety nine soldiers in Vavuniya as members of one united family came forward to donate much-needed blood in the recently-held health camp that was organized by the 214 Brigade in Vavuniya. This enabled medical staff to collect over 100 pints of blood within a matter of several hours. It was a day exclusively dedicated for the sick in those Tamil-dominated areas. This collection of blood to be frozen at Vavuniya Hospital is to be used for the sick in Vavuniya and its suburbs as and when necessary.
During the Eye-screening Camp held in Vavuniya to go hand in hand with the day's Health Camp programme, a total of 131 adults over 55 years of age got their eyes tested and had their respective treatment prescribed. Meanwhile, the clinic that was conducted at Andiyapuliyankulam Muslim school for general ailments/illnesses received the maximum number of benefactors, the total being 488, including a large number of children resident in the western areas of Vavuniya.
Those medical services, thus organized by the Army and provided thanks to the contribution of Medical staff at Vavuniya and Anuradhapura Hospitals and other Non-Governmental Social Service/Welfare organizations amply proved that bonds of goodwill that prevail between Security Forces and the commoners in the area sound extremely well. Troops came in for praise by feeble adults and the sick who thronged there in their hundreds.
Major General P.S. B Kulathunga, showing a keen interest in the whole of the day's health and welfare programme ensured his presence at all health camps during the sessions of the day. All those services were made available to the poor as late as dusk.
