• Claims President may address some issue through next budget
• GMOA request recall of Treasury circular on biometric sign in

The Government Medical Officers’ Association ( GMOA) and  President Ranil Wickremasinghe met last week and discussed a range of issues pertaining to the health sector, including that relate to brain drain and pay, The Daily Morning learns.

Speaking to the media yesterday (30) GMOA Secretary Dr. Haritha Aluthge claimed that after handing over their documented proposal to the President Wickremasinghe, he promised to provide some solutions to those problems in the upcoming budget.

“One of the main reasons for the current shortage of doctors is that doctors are leaving the country. Especially compared to other European countries, doctors are paid less in Sri Lanka. A doctor is paid Rs. 28 for examining a patient in the Out Patient Department (OPD). An intern doctor is paid even less. We gave a series of proposals prepared by the GMOA based on market value and performance of doctors. We submitted a detailed proposal based on which the President agreed to answer those questions in the next budget,” Aluthge stated.

He also said that doctors who go abroad for further education, despite the ability to earn a lot of money in those countries, come to this country for the purpose of serving the country even though they are worried because they are not getting paid enough.

“A specialist doctor who comes here and practices after receiving a special foreign training, is given a basic salary of Rs. 88000. But if they decide to work in a country like the United Kingdom after completing the training, they can earn a salary of Rs. 4-5 million. Therefore it is not surprising that doctors leave the country in this situation. “ he argued.

Aluthge also said that since it is the responsibility of the Government to keep doctors here in such a situation, it is expected that the President Wickremasinghe as the leader of the country as well as the Minister of Finance, Economic Stabilisation and National Policy will look into this very carefully and provide a solution.

The Daily Morning reliably learns that the GMOA also requested the President and Health Ministry officials to withdraw a recent circular by the Treasury, which makes it mandatory for senior medical staff, especially those in administrative roles to sign in and out work using biometric scanners.

However, several attempts made by The Daily Morning to contact the Treasury and the Presidential Secretariat regarding the issues discussed and what relief was promised, proved futile.