Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake questioned why Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne went to Singapore for treatment if the health system in the country was so good.

“Why did you go to Mt. Elizabeth in Singapore if the health system was so good here?” the JVP MP asked the Health Minister. “Why did you take 100 lakhs from the President’s Fund for your operation,” he further charged.

The JVP MP said pharmacies were mushrooming around hospitals because the free health service was not as free as it seemed: “There are hospitals and there are doctors but the medication has to be bought from outside,” he said.

Health Minister Rajitha Seneratne rejected the JVP MP’s charge that medication and tests were conducted outside the hospitals, saying these services were available for free within the hospitals.

The JVP MP however countered the Health Minister’s claim, asking him why he chose to go to Singapore for medical treatment rather than be treated at local hospitals.