• No response for weeks

The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) is still awaiting a response from the Government regarding its request for an immediate meeting with President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, amid rising concerns about the country’s medical health situation.

GMOA Media Spokesman Dr. Chamil Wijesinghe told The Sunday Morning that it was yet to receive a response from the President or the Prime Minister to the letter it sent several weeks ago, soon after the new Government was appointed.

He stated that a courtesy meeting was usually called after the appointment of a new government to discuss and outline the main issues faced by doctors as well as the health sector and their contributions as a professional body to safeguard both medical officers and the sector as a whole.

“After the President was appointed in the last week of September, we sent a formal request to meet him,” he said. “We have not received any word in response to our request.” 

He added: “We made a similar request to the current Prime Minister, who is also the Health Minister at the moment. Hopefully, we will be able to receive an appointment with her in one or two weeks.”

According to him, the Presidential Secretariat had informed them that the President was busy and that they would receive their appointment after the submission of nominations for the General Elections nearly a week ago.

Speaking on the looming medicine shortages, Dr. Wijesinghe said that although emergency procurements had been stopped, the old procurement process was still delaying the procurement of medicine.

In a letter dated 8 September 2023, GMOA Secretary Dr. Haritha Aluthge noted that if current trends continued, the country’s health sector would face destructive effects, ultimately victimising the people, especially poor patients.