Lankan Medical students dilemma in the UK

Minister seeks Commonwealth Secretariat help

GENEVA: Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva has urged the Commonwealth Secretariat to intervene and sort out the hardship which has been caused to the Sri Lankan medical post graduates as a result of a policy decision taken by the UK government insisting on work permits as a pre-condition for obtaining visas for such professionals to enter into UK.

The Minister made this appeal at the annual Commonwealth Health Ministers' Forum at Ramada Park Hotel, Geneva on May 21.

De Silva who represented Sri Lanka in this forum at the roundtable discussions highlighted the nature of brain-drain Sri Lanka is facing at the moment.

He informed that more than 1000 doctors are trained in Sri Lanka medical colleges every year but when they are sent abroad for post-graduate training, specially in the area of psychiatry, pathology and radiology, their returning to Sri Lanka is minimal.

Sri Lanka invests a colossal sum in producing doctors, nurses and other para-medical professionals as education in Sri Lanka is totally free, the Minister said. He pointed out that in many developed countries and under-developed countries, medical and nurses education is not free and the individual trainers will have to bear the cost of their education.

He said there is a moral obligation on the part of Sri Lankan doctors to remain in Sri Lanka or return to Sri Lanka after their training. He explained the Sri Lankan perspective and pointed out that when he obtained Cabinet approval to compel doctors going abroad for further training to enter into an enhanced bond, the trade unions, vehemently objected to this move and could not implement this decision.

De Silva explained that in view of the vibrant

democratic norms and practices and the provisions of the constitution prevailing in Sri Lanka, it is not possible to impose any restriction on migration of the professionals.

"As a government committed to democracy and preservation of

human rights, the Government does not intend to impose any travel ban on

professionals to ensure that they remain within the country." he said. The Minister emphasised the only manner in which the developed countries could help developing countries for brain-drain is to ensure that the developing countries pay the cost of training of the health personnel to the countries to which these health personnel were trained.

If this is implemented the developing countries would be in a better position to allocate these resources for enhancing and training and capacity building and would be able to produce more and more health professionals, De Silva said.

He urged the Ministers of the Commonwealth to support this view and expressed his desire to bring this issue before the World Health Assembly. He pointed out that 1.2 per cent of doctors working in UK as well as in Australia are Sri Lankan doctors.

He added what really has happened is that Sri Lanka has subsidised the health sector of these developed countries by providing them with skilled medical professionals to provide healthcare to the developed countries without any cost to those countries.

He assured that Sri Lanka will do its best to ensure the training of national requirement of health professionals and requested the developed countries to help Sri Lanka to enhance its technical capacity in training the nurses and para-medical professionals by providing trainers.