The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has decided to call off its planned island-wide token strike, which was scheduled to begin at 8:00 a.m. today (25th of August ) in all government hospitals.
The decision came after a special discussion held last night (24) with Health and Mass Media Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa and the Secretary to the Ministry of Health. GMOA Secretary Dr. Prabath Sugathadasa said the Association agreed to suspend the strike following a written assurance from the Minister to address their concerns.
Earlier, the GMOA had announced the strike citing several issues, including the risk of hospitals in remote areas shutting down, government influence on patients to purchase scarce medicines, and the threat to the free healthcare system caused by the lack of quality medicines and essential equipment.
The union also criticized the Ministry of Health, claiming that the system for transferring doctors and assigning them to remote hospitals had nearly collapsed due to irregular, inefficient, and non-transparent practices.
Dr. Sugathadasa confirmed that, based on the Minister’s written pledge to resolve their demands, the planned island-wide strike has been called off.
