The people of the country are confused  by the contradictory stories of those in the same ministry! – Journalist Nalaka Gunardhana

The people of the country are confused  by the contradictory stories of those in the same ministry! – Journalist Nalaka Gunardhana

 

Senior journalist Nalaka Gunawardena says that it is clear that some of the officials who communicate health information today are incompetent in this regard and now this has become a joke for the country.

He also says that it is doubtful whether the people really understand this.

He was speaking at a panel discussion organized by journalists for the right to use Zoom technology on the 20th.

Speaking further journalist Nalaka Gunawardena said,

This is a disaster. This is the biggest disaster we have faced since the tsunami. The lesson we learned from the tsunami was that we must provide accurate, clear information to society.

An epidemic is a continuous flow. There is no end in sight. I think we need to focus on three main points when reporting information here. As medical scientific information, administrative information and financial information.

For this flow of information to be proper, the information must be properly integrated. There must be a proper standard. The data must be accurate.

It seems that the Ministry of Health is of a strong opinion in analyzing the data of this epidemic today. There is no sharing of this information on the websites of the Ministry of Health. Is this due to negligence? Or deliberately? We can argue that.

Gathering this information is not an easy task either. There are many things we do not know about this plague. We have to face uncertainties.

The problem in society today is that these statistics, which the government itself presents, can be trusted with the death toll? That is to say. If people do not accept these, there is a big problem.

Recently, Dr. Hemantha of the Ministry of Health stated that this epidemic has not yet been socialized. But the president of the Association of Public Inspectors is the other side of it. To accept now that this epidemic has been socialized.

How can people trust these if there is no consensus on both sides in the health sector? Although the data is not hidden, the people of the country are shocked when people in the same ministry tell contradictory stories in this manner.

Also at this point there is an epidemic of bad information. Sometimes there is only money to be made.

The talk was attended by Dr. Hasangi Somadasa, Psychiatrist, Ravi Kumudesh, President of the Association of Medical Laboratory Professionals, Yoshitha Perera, Journalist, Maneshka Borm, Assistant Editor, Citizen Fact Check, and Dulan Dassanayake, Attorney-at-Law.

Below is the conversation via Zoom.

https://www.facebook.com/aithiya.lk/videos/1020479495366574

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