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In Pictures

Features|Health

Sri Lanka’s cancer patients struggle amid economic chaos

Hundreds of people have had their treatment upended by the country’s major economic crisis.

SRI LANKA-CRISIS/HEALTH
Sathiyaraj Silaksana, 27, holds her son S Saksan, who has been diagnosed with leukaemia, at a cancer care transit home near Apeksha Hospital, Colombo. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]
Published On 25 Dec 202225 Dec 2022
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Priyantha Kumarasinghe starts his day in the small Sri Lankan town of Maharagama with a breakfast of two biscuits and a small glass of tea, followed by a round of cancer medicines.

The 32-year-old vegetable farmer was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2021 and started receiving treatment earlier this year, just as Sri Lanka’s economy went into free fall.

Amid crippling fuel scarcity and weeks of unrest, Kumarasinghe said he was unable to travel the 155km (96 miles) between his home and Sri Lanka’s main cancer hospital on the outskirts of the country’s largest city, Colombo, for treatment.

Kumarasinghe is among hundreds of cancer patients who have had their treatment upended by Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948.

Hospitals countrywide have struggled to contend with severe drug shortages, which have worsened over the last eight months, a representative of Sri Lanka’s largest doctor’s union said.

“All hospitals are experiencing shortages. There is difficulty in even sourcing basics like paracetamol, vitamin C and saline for outpatient services,” said Vasan Ratnasingam, a spokesman for the Government Medical Officers’ Association.

Specialist facilities like cancer and eye hospitals are running on donations, Ratnasingam said.

Battered by the loss of tourism and remittance earnings because of the pandemic, alongside an ill-timed tax cut, Sri Lanka slid into crisis in early 2022 after its foreign exchange reserves dried up, leaving it short of dollars to pay for imports of fuel, food, cooking gas and medicines.

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For months, the country of 22 million people faced hours-long power cuts and severe fuel shortages.

The economic hardship triggered protests, which in July led to the removal of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Currency depreciation and record inflation have pushed middle-class families like Kumarasinghe’s to the brink as they scrambled to meet higher living costs.

For decades, Sri Lankans have benefitted from a universal public healthcare system that subsidises treatment, including medicine for serious illnesses.

But services have been hampered by the dollar shortage, which has restricted imports of medicines, and limited public funds available to hospitals to provide care.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has pledged to restore economic stability but has warned reforms will be painful as the country strives to increase taxes to put its public finances in order and work with creditors, including India, Japan and China, to restructure debt.

In September, the country entered a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a $2.9bn bailout but has to put its huge debt burden on a sustainable track before disbursement can begin.

The economic hardship remains crushing for many.

Sathiyaraj Silaksana, 27, is visiting her five-year-old son S Saksan suffering from leukaemia, travelling 350km (217 miles) with her husband to feed him.

“Due to the current crisis in Sri Lanka, we are facing severe problems in transport and food,” said Silaksana, who is pregnant with her second child.

“I have no option but to pay for my son’s needs. My husband is a construction worker. In order to pay for all these expenses we pawned our jewellery.”

SRI LANKA-CRISIS/HEALTH
The five-year-old boy sits with his two grandmothers - K Wimalesvari, 63, and Ratnasingham Rajini, 45 - at the cancer care transit home. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]
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SRI LANKA-CRISIS/HEALTH
His mother said the family had to pawn their jewellery to cover the expenses. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]
SRI LANKA-CRISIS/HEALTH
'I have no option but to pay for my son's needs,' Silaksana said. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]
SRI LANKA-CRISIS/HEALTH
Needle marks are seen on the wrist of S Saksan while he takes a nap after receiving cancer treatment at the hospital. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]
SRI LANKA-CRISIS/HEALTH
Kesakarasa Sathiyaraj, 34, shows food stored in a cupboard for his son at the cancer care transit home. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]
A medical worker talks to a vendor selling household goods and food for patients and their family members, outside Apeksha Hospital, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
A medical worker talks to a vendor selling household goods and food for patients and their family members outside Apeksha Hospital, Colombo. Hundreds of cancer patients have had their treatment upended by Sri Lanka's economic crisis. Hospitals countrywide have struggled to contend with severe drug shortages, which have worsened over the last eight months. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]
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SRI LANKA-CRISIS/HEALTH
Sudhagaran Sadurshana, nine, who has been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, and her mother Sudhagaran Punawadee, 30, ride a bus as they travel home after being discharged from Apeksha Hospital. 'We have to go there by bus, we know that's not comfortable for our child but what else can we do? We have no other choice.' Punawadee said. 'Currently, increases of transport and food prices are the biggest problems for us. Most medicines are given by the hospital but some medicines we need to buy from the pharmacy.' [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]
SRI LANKA-CRISIS/HEALTH
Rathis Supiksa is carried by her aunt as they follow her father, Periyathambi Rathis, 32, towards Apeksha Hospital for cancer treatment. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]
SRI LANKA-CRISIS/HEALTH
Rathis gives water to his seven-year-old daughter who has been diagnosed with blood and bone cancer in her leg. 'We never ever faced a situation like this before. Even during the war period, we ate well. But with the current situation in Sri Lanka, it is difficult to live,' said Periyathambi, 'I will definitely have to take out a loan from a loan shark to meet the child's expenses in the future.' [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]
SRI LANKA-CRISIS/HEALTH
The child has lunch on a bed at the cancer care transit home. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]
SRI LANKA-CRISIS/HEALTH
Customers stand in line to buy medicine at a pharmacy near Apeksha Hospital. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]
SRI LANKA-CRISIS/HEALTH
Shashini Chamilka Maduhansi, 23, prepares medicine for her husband, Priyantha Kumarasinghe, 32, who has been diagnosed with lung cancer which doctors think has spread to his neck and spine. [Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters]
SRI LANKA-CRISIS/HEALTH
Kumarasinghe wears a neck support collar at his aunt's house in Homagama. 'If I had been able to get treatment properly during June, July and August, there is a good possibility I could have reduced the lung cancer,' he said. 'Because that was not possible, that may be the reason why cancer has grown.'[Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters]
SRI LANKA-CRISIS/HEALTH
Maduhansi prepares tea for her husband at the house in Homagama. [Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters]
SRI LANKA-CRISIS/HEALTH
Amid crippling fuel scarcity and weeks of unrest, Kumarasinghe said he was unable to travel the 155km (96 miles) between his home and Sri Lanka's main cancer hospital on the outskirts of Colombo for treatment. [Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters]
SRI LANKA-CRISIS/HEALTH
Medical workers walk past graffiti protesting against Sri Lanka’s former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on a wall at Apeksha Hospital. [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters]


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