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A perspective on Sri Lanka’s medical tourism and way forward

Introduction Medical tourism is defined as ‘travelling across international borders to receive some kind of medical treatment such as dental care, cosmetic procedures, elective surgical care, fertility treatments, etc. (Kelly, 2013). The Medical Tourism Association describes it as people living in one country travelling to another country to access better quality medical, dental and surgical care than they are receiving in their own country (Medical Tourism Association, 2014). The terms “medical tourism’ and ‘health tourism’ are used interchangeably in works of literature (Munro,2012). The term ‘health tourism’ has a broader concept than the term ‘medical tourism’, as it covers the three related domains are known as Medical tourism, Healthcare tourism and Wellness tourism (Chen et al., 2012). The quality and cost of medical care, personal preferences (Personal experiences, Income, etc.) as well as the technological, economic, political,        socio-cultural and leg

Communism, Nationalism, Racism to Separatism (The rise and fall of Tito’s Yugoslavia)

Introduction Yugoslavia, the land of the South Slavs was formed after World War I.   Although they spoke a common language (Servo-Croatian), the country comprised of six ethnic groups, with different histories, different beliefs, and distinct identities. During the last century, this nation achieved an incredible rise to power and had a devastating collapse in the span of nine decades. Yugoslavia experienced a variety of governmental structures 1 . The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was established in 1918, only to be substituted in 1943 by the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia. Just three years later, the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed under the influential leadership of Josip Broz Tito (1892-1980) 2 . The country which existed for 85 years and flourished under Tito’s leadership, is now non-existent. It is argued that the continuous adoption of various ideology caused instability and eventually led to the collapse of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. T

A postscript on the Easter bomb attacks in Sri Lanka.

The Easter Sunday bomb attacks exposed the defects and shortcomings of Sri Lanka’s security establishment.   A series of coordinated bombings on that day rocked Sri Lanka, killing at least 257 people and wounding 500 others. The attacks, carried out by two Muslim extremist groups were the deadliest the island has witnessed since the end of its civil war 10 years ago. The attacks targeted three churches as well as four hotels in the Western Province. Since 2009, Sri Lanka enjoyed a negative peace. Having ended a war that lasted close to 30 years, the bomb blasts evidently caught people by surprise. The prospect of encountering terrorism of this nature appears to have not been registered even within the security establishment of Sri Lanka. Security experts, since 2009 in particular, have focussed on the maritime security aspect of Sri Lanka’s security and as a consequence failed to notice the emergence of internal security threats. Lately, public criticism has been direc