• Concerns raised over possible political agenda

The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) yesterday (28 February) threatened to expand its trade union action by withdrawing from ‘Arogya’ clinics from tomorrow (2), citing a lack of response from the Government to its demands. 

The unanimous decision to withdraw from the ‘Arogya’ project had been taken by the GMOA’s Central Committee last Wednesday (25 February).

The GMOA said that it had repeatedly called for solutions to issues affecting medical officers and clarity on the project’s objectives, with warnings issued by the association over nearly a month continually being ignored.

When contacted by The Sunday Morning, GMOA Media Spokesman Dr. Chamil Wijesinghe stated that several requests for discussions and clarification on this programme had been made to Minister of Health Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa without any outcome.

“We have been asking, what is the proposed structure? What is the final outcome or the expected outcome? What are the objectives? What is the funding source? This is not a grant, but a debt, and if this fails ultimately who will repay the debt? It’s not the Minister or the officials; it will be us, the tax-paying general public,” he said. 

As such, healthcare staff including medical officers expressed their concerns and doubts with regard to the project, with the ministry yet to offer clarity on the presented inquiries.

Dr. Wijesinghe explained that the initiative had been initially declared as a structural change or “a restructuring of the primary healthcare system of Sri Lanka”. However, instead of acting as a restructuring, he said that the ‘Arogya’ project was akin to another healthcare system or institution introduced on top of the existing primary care system. 

According to him, the primary care system comprises Primary Medical Care Units (PMCUs) and additional hospitals at the moment, on top of which the ‘Arogya’ clinics have been established.

“Apart from the centres, they are now labelling each and every project or outreach clinic, outside clinic, medical camp, and anything done by the Health Ministry as ‘Arogya’. Therefore, we have doubts as to whether this is a social welfare project or a political project.”

At present, around 50 centres or ‘Arogya’ clinics have been opened.

He said that despite the association acting with maximum flexibility with regard to the Government’s continued failure in fulfilling agreements that had previously been agreed upon, the ministry continued to fail to respond positively to GMOA demands, and noted that this lack of response had caused continuous strain, contributing to the GMOA’s withdrawal.

The Minister of Health was not reachable for comment regarding the GMOA’s allegations. Attempts by The Sunday Morning to contact the Health Ministry Secretary, Director General of Health Services, and other senior officials in this regard were also unsuccessful.