GMOA clashes with Health Minister

The Government Medical Officers' Association (GMOA) has leveled a strong accusation that the current government and Health Minister Dr. Nalintha Jayatissa are attempting to force doctors to perform duties, deviating from proper procedures and without their consent.

Joining a press conference held today in Colombo, Assistant Secretary of the association, Dr. Hansamal Weerasuriya, stated that the professional freedom enjoyed by doctors has been severely impacted due to certain decisions the government is about to implement. He pointed out that recent irregularities in the medical transfer procedure and political interferences affecting it are the main reasons for this situation, and emphasized that over twenty-three thousand doctors represented by his association are in no way prepared to work under such coercive conditions.

However, at the press conference to announce cabinet decisions held yesterday, the Health Minister stated that the annual medical transfer process, which had been irregular for about the past thirteen years, is currently being systematically restored. The Minister revealed that some doctors, by misusing trade union power, have worked irregularly for about thirteen to seventeen years in places like the Colombo Eye Hospital, and that transfers for nearly six thousand doctors are scheduled to be implemented by the tenth of next May.

The Minister pointed out that the new system will bring justice to the majority of doctors who have faced injustice until now. He further stated that only those who have been trying to keep their associates and executive members of unions in the same place for many years are protesting against it, and that no matter what kind of pressure comes, the relevant transfer process will not be stopped but will be implemented further.

The Government Medical Officers' Association (GMOA) rejects these statements by the Health Minister as completely false and misleading to the public. Dr. Hansamal Weerasuriya recalled that over ninety-eight percent of the transfer process was successfully completed in 2019 due to the direct intervention of his association. However, he accused the authorities of failing to properly complete even one-fifth of the anticipated six thousand transfers, even after two months since the current government came to power.

He firmly stated that doctors are not prepared to submit to anyone's command or work like slaves. Stating that government doctors are not afraid of any party, he strongly challenged that if the Health Minister wishes to create a conflict with trade unions, his association will not hesitate to provide appropriate responses.