The decision taken by the Government to extend the retirement age of all medical specialists from 60 to 63 years is indeed a prudent step, especially considering the major crisis confronting the health sector as a result of the exodus of medical professionals to foreign climes.
The decision of the Health Ministry Secretary to this effect was conveyed by the Attorney General’s representative to the Court of Appeal hearing the writ petitions filed by 176 doctors against the decision taken by the Cabinet to make specialized doctors retire at 60.
Following this decision, there will now be sufficient time for the interns now under training, to go through their paces and fit into the replacements from among the current crop of Government doctors who will take over once the specialists retire at 63, assuming there are sufficient doctors now undergoing specialized training to fill the void.
It will be the Health Ministry’s task to ensure that there will be enough specialist doctors to fill in the current void once the others call it a day. It will also be its duty to ensure that there will be sufficient specialists three years hence when these specialists retire and that more doctors are produced, so that the effects of the exodus will not be felt and patients are not left in the lurch.
One way of doing this will be to establish private medical colleges and also increase the intake into State Medical Colleges as proposed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe. No opposition should be brooked by the Government to the establishment of private medical colleges as happened in the past, that held back the creation of more doctors, so that the current shortage precipitated by the exodus would not be felt. After all, the Government’s first duty is to the public and not to the trade unions driven by political interests.
As we mentioned in our editorial yesterday, the shortfall of doctors in the country to man Government Hospitals is around 4,000 and all measures should be taken to fill this gap. The reduction of the prices of essential drugs by Health Minister Dr. Keheliya Rambukwella would be of no avail if there are no doctors to prescribe them to the patients.
The prices of drugs should continue to be reduced in proportion to the appreciation of the Rupee against the Dollar, since even with the reduced prices certain drugs appear beyond the reach of most. When drug prices shot up at the height of the Dollar crisis the increase was several-fold, forcing some to go without their medication to save for their food and other essentials for survival. Pharmacies which made a killing during the Covid days should be told to be a little more generous and where possible, further reduce the prices of drugs given the financial plight of the majority brought about by the economic crisis.
The doctors, if they are to be retained in the country, should be provided with all facilities and wherewithal to carry on with their profession without let or hindrance. There are frequent complaints - usually aired over television - where doctors highlight the glaring shortcomings in hospitals, especially the rural ones. In fact, there were instances recently where some hospitals in the outstations had to suspend surgeries for want of anesthetics and due to defective equipment while there was one hospital where only one doctor was in attendance with patients having to be turned away - the result of the exodus.
Doctors, who are highly rated professionals with dignity, will not want to work under such conditions and are liable to throw in the towel and quit at the first given opportunity. Their laments too should be taken aboard by the authorities instead of dismissing them out of hand.
Not just doctors, a scheme should be devised by which all professionals in the country are retained and their services availed of in these hard times when the country needs everyone to make their own contribution. The massive brain drain - first following the Sinhala Only Act and thereafter as a result of the communal riots is acutely being felt at the present time when the country is at a crossroads.
We, as a country, are all the more poorer by the departure of these eminent men and women whose skills and abilities are made use of by others. All appeals to get them to return to their Motherland had failed. We should at least strive to retain the services of those still remaining with us instead of creating conditions that will make them too abandon their country. Political unrest, the breakdown in law and order, protests, agitations and even the current spate of killings and general dislocation of normal life are a surefire way of driving our professionals away if one takes into consideration past happenings.
Hence, it will be the duty of all political leaders and trade unions to ensure a conducive climate and a conflict-free environment for a peaceful existence that would appeal to all and make this country a pleasant place to live in and work, for all our professionals.
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