- Focus on paediatrics, psychiatry, transfusion, anaesthesia
The Ministry of Health has instructed the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine (PGIM) to increase the number of specialists that they produce in areas such as paediatrics, psychiatry, transfusion, and anaesthesia, said Health Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana.
Speaking in Parliament yesterday (30 November), Dr. Pathirana said that these instructions were given following the exodus of hundreds of specialists in the afore-mentioned branches in the health sector. He said that Sri Lanka is currently experiencing a dire shortage of consultant paediatricians, consultant psychiatrists, transfusion medical specialists, and consultant anaesthetists according to the data received by the Ministry.
Dr. Pathirana further said that the PGIM is usually working on targeting the vacancies that appear with the retirement of doctors and specialists, but that now, it has to work on filling the shortage of doctors resulting from their migration. He therefore said that all related medical institutions should be capable of addressing this extraordinary crisis at a time when an immediate response is required.
The Minister also said that he is making every possible effort, having discussions with other related institutions to provide health sector professionals with proper solutions for the issues that they are facing with the economic crisis. He added that he has held several discussions with all stakeholders including trade unions and the Finance Ministry in order to find possible solutions.
The Minister made these remarks at a time when the Government Medical Officers’ Association had 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. According to medical trade unions, 842 doctors and 274 specialists have left the country between 1 June last year (2022) and 31 May this year, 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.
Meanwhile, the Minister also said that the Ministry is carrying out a special programme to address the nutritional issues of children and expectant mothers. He also noted that as a result of that, the number of children with severe acute malnutrition has decreased. He also said that a special programme is needed to be launched to address issues related to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), since South Asia has been identified by international health organisations as a region with a high risk of NCDs.