Physician heal thyself

The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) is at it again. Consultant doctors and over 100 health and other trade unions launched an islandwide strike, halting all health services, in protest against the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine, popularly known as SAITM.

This is not the first time that Government doctors resorted to strike action over SAITM. They conducted strikes on a district basis against SAITM sometime back. With the exception of accident services, maternity hospitals, children’s hospitals, the cancer hospital, kidney hospital and dialysis units and places where dengue affected child patients are being treated in the Trincomalee district doctors refrained from working at all other healthcare facilities. Although the GMOA said they would not engage in private practice too for the first time, it was not clear at the time we went to press whether this had indeed been done.

We have written time and again in these columns that doctors employed in the Government sector must not hold poor and innocent patients to ransom to win their demands. This is the view of every newspaper and media outlet in the country, bar none. Although the GMOA says the “right to life is more important than the right to education” this very slogan is violated by the GMOA by launching strikes.

The GMOA seems to be oblivious to the plight of patients who patronize Government hospitals. It is generally the underprivileged who attend the OPD clinics at State hospitals. Most Middle Class and rich people will anyway opt to visit private sector hospitals, at which GMOA members have no qualms about engaging in private practice.

Thus whenever the Government doctors strike, it is the poor who are most affected. Some patients have to travel a long distance to the hospital in the nearest city or even to Colombo which in itself is a great burden on their purse. They cannot afford to go back empty handed, without any sort of treatment. But the GMOA apparently does not care.

Ironically, in a country where more Middle Class and poor people pay indirect taxes than the rich who avoid income tax, the less privileged classes end up funding medical education. Yes, the doctors’ strikes affect the very people who have funded their education. People still do respect doctors, but their callous attitude towards the suffering of patients and incessant strikes over SAITM and other issues may erode this trust.

Professional bodies such as the GMOA should not dabble in politics, for private education is essentially a part of the Government’s overall education policy for which it has received a mandate from the people. There are purely political trade unions who can voice an opinion on political matters but the GMOA should not stoop to the lowest possible depths to attack the Government on the SAITM issue. The Joint Opposition-JVP-GMOA nexus on SAITM is rather intriguing to say the least. The GMOA would do well to distance itself from the JO and its leaders, who had no hesitation in championing the cause of SAITM when they were in power. Now that they are no longer in power, they try to cling on to any straw to gain political mileage. Many of those who vociferously oppose SAITM now kept mum during the previous regime, fearing reprisals.

The JVP-GMOA mantra of “end to free education” is so passé, given the large number of private educational institutions that already exist in this country, from international schools to degree awarding institutions. Paradoxically, the GMOA does not seem to oppose the practice of Sri Lankan students going abroad for medical studies. Little is known about the standards of some of these foreign medical colleges, though the GMOA has found fault with SAITM standards.

Those who oppose private higher education conveniently forget another fact – having local private universities will pave the way for a huge saving in foreign exchange. Some degree courses at foreign universities in our own region cost as much as Rs.50 million, whereas a local institution would be able to offer a comparable course for under Rs.10 million. Moreover, local private higher education institutions will be able to offer places to foreign students especially from our region, which will turn them into foreign exchange earners as well.

Sri Lanka risks losing out on the private higher education market, which is now one of the biggest drivers of economic growth in both developed and developing worlds. Countries virtually trample over each other to attract foreign students. India has over 250 private universities while many other countries in the region have at least a handful each. The global higher education market is expected to reach US$ 1.4 trillion by 2020 propelled by rising student enrolment rates, globalization of educational services and the rising demand for an educated workforce in emerging economies. Sri Lanka should strive to secure at least a tiny fraction of this pie, which will be a boon for the economy. The GMOA and others must realise that “freedom of education” in conjunction with free education will lead to a more prosperous nation.