My No: CMLS/COVID19/2020

April 11, 2020

Mr. Ghothabhaya Rajapaksha

His Excellency the President
President's secretary office
Colombo 01

Dear Sir

Establishment of Molecular Laboratory and performing COVID 19 RT-PCR

at National Hospital of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka National Hospital is one of the largest in the Asian region and function as a national referral
hospital in Sri Lanka. It has a high intensity with competent and expert healthcare team including all
clinical specialties in order to manage novel diseases like COVID 19. Therefore National Hospital has
high demand for molecular diagnostic tests with huge range of requirements and different patient
management purposes including the COVID 19 detection test these days. It reveals National hospital
has a mandatory need of a Molecular laboratory setting in order to provide efficient patient care
delivery. Further it is very bad situation that NHSL does not perform COVID 19 RT PCR test while
substantial number of COVID 19 infected or COVID 19 suspected patients are admitted and treated at
NHSL these days.

Request for the establishment of a Molecular Biology Laboratory at NHSL has been made nearly five
years back and estimation for equipment has been prepared years back. Even the Ministry of Health
has come forward to provide the necessary equipment and other facilities to carry out the COVID 19
test at the National Hospital it has not yet become a reality.

I would like to point out that it is highly required to investigate the situation of being reluctant to start
COVID 19 RT PCR testing at NHSL while having ministerial and many other institutional support
and support of Medical Research Institute which is having extra RT PCR machines answering the
allegations raised at the moment telling there are lack of laboratory facilities for COVID 19 testing.

Further, I would highlight that if the Ministry of Health is directly involved in establishing molecular
diagnostic laboratory with facilities of molecular diagnostic tests including COVID 19 RT-PCR, the
staff of the Medical Laboratory scientists will be very keen to carry out all the related responsibilities

+94773077717 www.cmlssl.org cmlssrilanka@gmail.com No. 25/2, Norris Avenue, Colombo 08

1
and there is a suitable place for them to use for this purpose without any renovation spending
additional time and cost.

However, the reason to non-establishment of this laboratory is an unnecessary personal dispute among
several clinical specialists in the Laboratory Service. Unfortunately it is observed the Ministry of
Health has given more space for this unreliable professional conflict and being silent at this issue
giving more value than COVID 19 outbreak.

The molecular biology laboratory test, PCR or RT-PCR do not belong to a particular clinical
discipline and it fulfills molecular level scientific evidences for vast range of diagnostic and patient
management purposes covering all the scope of the clinical requirement of medical laboratory service
ranging Clinical Haematology, Clinical Microbiology, Histopathology, Clinical Biochemistry and
Genetics etc. That unethical and irrelevant professional conflict should not affect for the patients or
decision of clinicians who manage the patients.

Therefore, we would urge you to provide your direct intervention on the above situation and give
directives for the immediate commencement of the 19 RT-PCR testing at the National Hospital of Sri
Lanka.

Thank you

Yours
Faithfully

Ravi Kumudesh (0773077717)

President
College of Medical Laboratory Science, Sri Lanka

Copy:
1. The Secretary to the HE the President
2. Hon. Minister of Health and Indigenous Medicine
3. The Secretary, Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medicine
4. Director General of Health Services
5. Deputy Director General (National Hospital of Sri Lanka)
6. Superintendent Medical Laboratory Scientist (National Hospital of Sri Lanka)

+94773077717 www.cmlssl.org cmlssrilanka@gmail.com No. 25/2, Norris Avenue, Colombo 08

2