Sri Lanka’s Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) has urged the government to urgently address fuel and transport issues faced by doctors, warning that the current fuel quota system may disrupt the functioning of the country’s health services.
In a statement issued today, the GMOA said the public hospital system operates continuously throughout the year and requires doctors and healthcare staff to travel frequently across the country to provide medical services.
The association pointed out that doctors currently arrange their own transport for routine duties, on-call services, and emergency calls, while unlike some other public sector positions they are not provided official vehicles or fuel allowances.
The GMOA said the fuel quota allocated under the recently implemented QR-based fuel distribution system is insufficient for doctors who travel long distances to hospitals, especially specialists and medical administrators posted away from their homes.
The association warned that some doctors may face difficulties even reaching hospitals to perform their duties if the issue is not addressed.
The GMOA called on the government to urgently recognise the practical challenges faced by healthcare workers and revise the fuel quota allocated to doctors and other health sector staff to ensure uninterrupted health services.
The association also urged the President to intervene and treat the fuel issue faced by health workers as a national priority in order to safeguard the public’s right to healthcare. (Newswire)
