Sri Lanka hospitals affected as GMOA starts 48 hour strike

A 48-hour island-wide symbolic strike by the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) began at 8:00 AM today (January 23), disrupting general hospital services in Sri Lanka due to the failure to implement agreements given by the Health Minister.

The GMOA stated that the trade union action was launched because the Ministry of Health has failed to implement written agreements aimed at resolving long-standing issues affecting the hospital system, the free healthcare service, and the concerns of medical officers.

As a result of the strike, general and routine treatment services at hospitals across the country have come to a complete standstill. However, the GMOA said that emergency and essential medical services will continue to operate during the 48-hour period.

The association further emphasized that the strike is not being carried out at maternity and children’s hospitals, kidney hospitals, and cancer hospitals in order to protect critical patient care.

According to the GMOA, the symbolic strike is intended to draw the attention of the authorities to persistent problems within the healthcare system and to urge the government to honor commitments already made to doctors.