The Government Medical Laboratory Professionals Association says the public must be granted an opportunity to undergo a PCR test at a government hospital, as health authorities continue to disregard the need for testing on request.
President of the Association Ravi Kumudesh said this inefficiency poses the risk of expatriates losing employment, as it violates regulations set by airlines to travel without a negative PCR test.
He said the Sri Lanka Medical Council has the right to conduct inquiries if any health sector employee ignores or fails to fulfil their responsibility.
Kumudesh called on inspection departments within the Ministry of Health to be mindful and enforce regulations now in place capping the price of testing.
He stated a specialist doctor being present during the test, is not a solution to inflated prices of PCR and Rapid Antigen testing, as claimed by the Health Ministry.
He claimed it was impractical to impose price controls on PCR and Rapid Antigen testing, as testing was limited to eight laboratories.
Kumudesh added laboratories are adamant on the current pricing for testing as it was reflective of the inflated costs in hiring equipment to complete the process.
He also stated that the monopolisation of COVID-test kits in the local market, blocked any opportunity for price reductions by means of competition.
