The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) will go on strike on eight counts today (22nd), according to a GMOA announcement yesterday. GMOA Secretary Dr. Haritha Aluthge told the Daily News that the strike would continue if the Health Minister presents the Quality Assurance and Accreditation Bill to Parliament today.
The strike will not be take place at any maternal, child, cancer and kidney hospitals including kidney units.There will also be no strike at any hospital of the armed forces.
The strike is on account of eight issues raised by the GMOA.The two main reasons are not introducing the Minimum Standards of Medical Education and trying to amend the Service Minute of Doctors, Dr. Aluthge said.
He claimed that the main objective of amending the existing Service Minute of Doctors was to enable unqualified individuals to enter the public service as MBBS doctors. “At the moment it cannot be done because of the rules and regulations of the Doctors’ Service Minute,” he said.
“The Health Minister does not bring in the Minimum Standards of Medical Education because it includes and very clearly states the minimum G.C.E.Advanced Level Examination result of a student eligible to enter any Medical faculty, physical facilities that should be in any medical faculty, the human resources that should be in any medical faculty and especially the required standard of any Teaching Hospital attached to any medical faculty. A Teaching Hospital is a must for any medical faculty,” Dr. Aluthge pointed out.
“The GMOA has the list of unqualified individuals who have failed all three subjects in the GCE Advanced Level Examination in the Science Stream and want to become MBBS doctors. It also has the list of names who had not studied in the Science stream in G.C.E.Advanced Level Examination,” he claimed.
GMOA Assistant Secretary Dr. Navin de Zoysa told the Daily News that the GMOA is not demanding any salary increases but is launching this strike to protect the future of the people of Sri Lanka.
(Daily News)