Thusith Muthumala of Sunil Traders on behalf of business community in Pettah, who donated Rs 35 million for the Maharagama Cancer Hospital’s PET Scanner fund, commended Manusath Derana for its role in helping achieve the Rs 200 million target.

He stated that the donation was made in honour of his father Sunil Muthumala and that the business community in Pettah as well as customers had chipped in. 

The initiative launched by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Maharagama to seek public assistance for the purchase of a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner, was successfully completed recently while a press conference was held today with the participation of several donors and the campaign’s organisers.

Mr Muthumala said that he was impressed by the endeavour initiated by Manusath Derana, the CSR initiative of TV Derana, on behalf of the people affected by kidney disease in the country and therefore decided to make the donation for this humanitarian effort. 

The PET scanner is an essential requirement for the National Cancer Institute in Maharagama as it allows doctors to detect the early onset of disease before it is evident on other imaging tests.  

Manusath Derana Project Chairman Mahesh Jayawardena , speaking during the event, said that he received a letter from the director of the cancer hospital on March 16, 2016 requesting assistance for the PET Scanner fund.

He stated that when Manusath Derana decided to pledge support to the programme a sum of only Rs 6 million had been amassed by then. However, donations started to flood soon after that and the target of Rs 200 million was achieved within a short span as a result of the dedication of a number of individuals and media organisations, he said.