A special discussion between the Government Medical Officers' Association and Medical Officers of Health

A special meeting was recently held at the headquarters of the Government Medical Officers' Association (GMOA) between its executive council and medical officers of health serving across the island. The primary objective of this meeting was to extensively discuss various service-related issues currently prevalent in the health sector, as well as future professional actions planned to be implemented.

The contribution of Medical Officers of Health (MOHs) is immense in maintaining Sri Lanka's health indicators at a level comparable to the world's most developed countries. Covering over 350 Medical Officer of Health divisions spread across the island, they play a central role in public health services through various sectors such as infectious disease prevention, non-communicable disease control, maternal and child healthcare, immunization programs, school health services, and food and nutrition.

Medical representatives from all districts paid special attention to several crises in the field. Key issues discussed included inadequate salaries for doctors, lack of a conducive professional environment, scarcity of essential facilities to maintain patient care services, and lack of transport facilities for official duties. Additionally, concerns regarding workplace safety, shortage of auxiliary health staff, and the outdated number of approved doctors were also heavily debated.

During this meeting, doubts were also raised as to whether a systematic plan is being implemented to weaken the current Medical Officer of Health system under the guise of structural reforms in the health service. Doctors were of the opinion that this situation has arisen due to authorities deliberately delaying the resolution of existing issues within the office system.

All Medical Officers of Health present unanimously decided to contribute more strongly, beyond their current involvement, to the ongoing professional struggle by the Government Medical Officers' Association against actions that harm the free health service. A special action committee has been appointed to further study these emerging situations and provide a report, based on which the executive council is expected to make future decisions. However, the Government Medical Officers' Association emphasizes that the Ministry of Health must immediately announce a reliable and sustainable program with a specific timeline to resolve these issues, and that all necessary interventions will be made for this purpose.