In the last year, at least 600-700 doctors left the country. Due to the economic crisis, about 40 applications to emigrate are submitted every month. Experts warn that this is only the beginning of a situation that, added to the shortage of medicines, could lead to the paralysis of the national health sector.
Colombo () – The Pediatric unit of the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital has closed its doors. The reason: four paediatricians, including the head of the Service and four specialists who worked as residents’ teachers, went abroad. As a consequence, resident doctors will no longer be able to receive training. After the closure, the hospital authorities of the city in the north of the country gave instructions to refer the young patients to other hospital units, although not specialized ones.
The announcement was made on March 29, through a letter from the director of the Anuradhapura University Hospital, Dr. DMS Samaraweera. In the letter, he explained that the ward was forced to close its doors after three doctors from Rajarat University Medical College who headed the pediatric unit emigrated abroad.
Due to the current economic crisis, Sri Lankan medical specialists are emigrating in large numbers, threatening to cripple the healthcare sector across the country. According to some sources, another group of doctors from the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital is also considering leaving the country as soon as possible.
The Secretary of the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA), Haritha Aluthge, noted that “at least 600-700 doctors, including several specialists, have emigrated in the last year. Every month, the Ministry of Health receives at least 40 emigration requests from doctors. The Association recalled that it had already warned about this situation and the risks of imposing new taxes on professionals.
Dr. Harsha Senanayake is a surgeon at a major public hospital and told that “a ward of a major hospital in the country had to close because the doctors left the country and this could mark the first step towards a crisis. At the moment, the pediatric unit of the Mullaitivu hospital cannot function because it only has one doctor specialist; the surgery unit ran out of surgeons and had to close”.
Dr Sachini Tennakoon is an orthopedic surgeon at a district hospital and commented: “This is just the beginning of the problems in the Health sector, but the situation promises to get worse, as other hospitals will also have to reduce their staff due to the lack of doctors and other workers in the sector”.
“There are many problems that plague the health sector, and one of them is the chronic shortage of medicines.” If the situation “deteriorates further due to the mass emigration of doctors, ordinary citizens, who pay to support the professionals, will remain on the waiting list even for serious operations – unlike politicians, who are sufficiently rich enough to afford medical treatment here or abroad.
“Today, Sri Lanka only has 27 thoracic cardiology surgeons,” adds Dr. Ranga Nissanka, from the Sri Lanka National Hospital. “But there are only 18 consultants in five hospitals in the country. With this double whammy, specialties like cardiothoracic surgery will disappear from Sri Lanka by the end of this decade, causing irreparable damage to the health sector. Heart surgery, which saves lives, and maternal health will come to a standstill.”
