Govt. doctors to launch token strike on Thursday

Government doctors will launch a one-day token strike from 8 am onwards on Thursday (Aug 22) citing several issues in the health sector, the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) said.

Issuing a statement, GMOA Secretary Dr. Haritha Aluthge noted that doctors will continue to function at the emergency units of all state hospitals.

Doctors attached to maternity hospitals, children's hospitals, Apeksha Cancer Hospital in Maharagama, National Institute for Nephrology Dialysis & Transplantation, and military hospitals too would not go on strike, the union said.

Dr. Aluthge noted that the strike would take place based on the following reasons'

• Shortage of medicinal drugs or existence of sub-standard drugs in hospitals
• Attempts to grant medical internships for individuals who have failed the G.C.E. Advanced Level examinations and not followed the science stream
• Failure to set a standard for medical education
• Delaying private medical job appointments for qualified doctors
• Dropping standards at rural hospitals due to the politicization in the transfers of doctors
• Delaying the preparation of the transfers and new appointments list for doctors in the North and East
• Attempting to destroy higher education by putting forth the New Quality Assurance and Accreditation Act.

The GMOA stated that they had decided to launch a strike since political authorities including the President, Health Secretary, and other higher officials had failed to convene a discussion on these demands.

Accordingly, they stated that these officials must bear responsibility for any inconveniences caused to patients as a result of the strike.