The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) claimed that around 100 hospitals and medical specialists’ units have been identified as being in danger of closure due to the lack of medical practitioners.
Speaking at a media briefing held yesterday (8), the GMOA Secretary Dr. Haritha Aluthge said that the hospitals and medical specialists units where only one or two doctors are practicing have faced this problem, adding that around 20 hospitals have already been closed due to the exodus of doctors.
Speaking further, the GMOA said that many hospitals which have already been closed are found in Districts in the Northern Province and in some Districts like Puttalam and Nuwara Eliya. He said that urgent steps must therefore be taken by the authorities to combat this crisis as otherwise, it would greatly affect the country’s healthcare system which is considered as one of the best healthcare systems in the world.
Dr. Aluthge said that Sri Lanka has never experienced this kind of emergency even during the three-decade civil war and that therefore, a critical evaluation should be conducted regarding the current situation of the country. “As we know, we have never faced such a crisis. In some hospitals, doctors have to do surgeries without anaesthesia as there are no anaesthetic medicines. In some hospitals where there was only one doctor, the hospitals were closed after those doctors migrated,” he said. The GMOA also warned that many doctors and specialists have already completed all the requirements to fly abroad and said that the situation would be more aggravated if those doctors and specialists leave the country.
Against this backdrop, earlier, the GMOA told the media that 842 doctors and 274 specialists have left the country between 1 June of last year (2022) and 31 May of this year (2023) and that about 250 who completed the internship had not accepted their appointments. It is said that the doctors’ migration has greatly resulted due to the country’s current economic crisis and the recent tax policy of the Government.
Several attempts made to contact the Health Ministry’s Secretary Janaka Sri Chandraguptha proved futile.