Sri Lanka’s government doctors have decided to step up an ongoing islandwide trade union action, accusing the Minister of Health of failing to implement agreed solutions to protect the country’s free public healthcare system, the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) said.
The GMOA stated that the decision was taken after the Health Minister failed to act on assurances given to resolve long-standing issues affecting doctors and the state hospital system, despite repeated discussions and timelines proposed by the union.
In a statement, the GMOA said it was compelled to resort to trade union action due to the non-implementation of agreements aimed at safeguarding free healthcare. The association noted that its financial and non-financial demands include the establishment of a dedicated “Sri Lanka Medical Service” covering doctors of all grades, the revision of the Doctors’ DAT allowance, the resolution of anomalies in research allowances, the revision of the approved cadre of doctors, and the conversion of certain allowances into permanent payments.
