The Hon. Mohamed Sali Naleem

¶ 01 Please grant me one more minute.

¶ 02 In the past, heart patients in the Batticaloa District faced great difficulty in obtaining treatment. For angiogram procedures, eight patients at a time were taken to the Jaffna Hospital once every two weeks, causing hardships and long waits.

¶ 03 To alleviate this, due to the untiring efforts of cardiac specialists at the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital—Dr. Vinodan, Dr. Arulnithi, and Dr. Rajeevan—and through arrangements by Sri Sathguru Srimadhasan of India, free cardiac treatment commenced at the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospital in June 2023. Since then, without any discrimination of race, religion, or region, costly cardiac care worth many millions of rupees has been provided to heart patients.

¶ 04 A leading role in this has been played by Mrs. Bennie Jayewardene of the family of the late President J.R. Jayewardene. I extend my gratitude to her and to Sri Sathguru Srimadhasan on behalf of the people of Batticaloa. I also thank the medical team led by cardiac surgeon Dr. Vinodan; the hospital’s General Manager, Mr. D.S. David; former Director and physician Dr. Suntharesan; Mr. Ramesh Rao from India; and all those who serve with dedication, including the Batticaloa Teaching Hospital’s cardiac surgery unit.

¶ 05 In addition, children are taken to India entirely free of charge for major open-heart surgeries, with all costs borne by the organizers, and monthly interventions are being provided—an unparalleled service. Moreover, in the coming days, in addition to angiograms and the placing of stents, open-heart surgeries are to commence there as well, free of charge to patients on waiting lists. This is a great comfort to the needy patients. I extend my sincere thanks to all responsible parties. Finally, I appeal once again in this august House to the Hon. Minister of Health to resolve the health needs and issues in Eravur. With thanks to the Almighty, I take my leave. Wassalam.