Sri Lanka’s Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has intensified its ongoing trade union action today after the association alleged a lack of response from the authorities to its key demands.
The association has stated that under the expanded measures, doctors will suspend issuing referrals for medicines, medical equipment and laboratory tests unavailable within hospitals, and withdraw from voluntary participation in politically organised health camps. The GMOA will also halt assigning doctors to newly opened wards without approved staffing levels, refuse to examine patients where safety and privacy cannot be ensured, and limit specialist services to their designated hospitals only.
The GMOA began continuous trade union action across the state hospital system on January 26, giving the Health Minister a 48-hour ultimatum to resolve outstanding issues. It said no satisfactory solutions were presented, prompting the decision to escalate the action following an emergency executive committee meeting on Saturday.
