The Executive Committee of the Health Trade Unions’ Alliance (HTUA) is to meet today (7) to decide its future course of action regarding their demands including an increase in allowances.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (6), the HTUA Co-Convenor Chanaka Dharmawickrama said that the meeting is to be held to take decisions on their future union actions due to the possible delay of the receipt of solutions to their demands, including the allowance increase. Dharmawickrama also noted that the Cabinet of Ministers is yet to approve the report submitted by the Health Ministry and the Ministry of Finance, Economic Stabilisation, and National Policies, even though the Minister of Health Dr. Ramesh Pathirana promised them a final solution in a week. He stated that the HTUA will have to resume their union actions if the Government fails to address the issue as promised. He also said that they have given the authorities more than enough time to address the issues, yet the lack of consensus between the Government authorities has impeded the mechanism of addressing the unions' demands.

Unions representing a wide range of health sector professionals, including those in professions supplementary to medicine and the paramedical services, such as radiology and laboratory technicians, pharmacists and drug compounders, midwives, dental surgeons, public health inspectors, and entomology officers, but excluding doctors and nurses, have engaged in strikes on multiple occasions, demanding an allowance hike for them. On 8 January, the Cabinet approved President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s proposal to double the Disturbance, Availability, and Transport (DAT) allowance paid to Government doctors, raising it from Rs. 35,000 to Rs. 70,000. This compelled the other health workers to resort to protest actions.