Making a mockery of the Hippocratic Oath

The trade union (TU) action launched by the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) is entering its third week. The action is mainly about increasing of allowances paid to doctors, the establishment of a special service category titled the Sri Lanka Medical Service and alleged political interference by the Ministry of Health. More recently medical specialists too, have commenced a TU action of their own.

These doctors, all of whom have hypocritically taken the Hippocratic Oath,  have commenced a new and deadly form of trade union action. We Lankans are not surprised that members of the GMOA have once again resorted to TU action over material benefits.

We have got used to this behaviour. But this time around, the action they implement is going beyond all acceptable norms. This time around, GMOA members will not stay away from attending hospital duties. They will mark their attendance at their places of work, see patients, but will refrain from prescribing medicines which are not available at government hospitals!

Since the economic meltdown in 2022, this country was reduced to a state of bankruptcy. Resultantly government hospitals have run out of certain medical drugs like blood thinners, antibiotics, vaccines and drugs needed for the treatment of cancer.

These drugs are available in the open market, albeit at a price. But they are available.Most families even if they have to resort to taking loans,  take the option to save their loved ones.

The large majority of persons coming to government hospitals are from the worse off sections of our country. Today nearly 50% of our people belong to this category of the population. The average wage of workers today remains at around Rs. 55,000/- per month. World Bank statistics show, as of 2024, that  between 25% to 30% of Sri Lankans live below the poverty line. 

It is these people who depend on the government subsidised health services. Their wages being barely sufficient to provide their families with two square meals a day, The ongoing doctor’s strike is like a blow to the solar plexus. The heavily subsidised state medical services offered poorer sections of the community a way out during times of ill health. 

The doctor’s action has effectively closed this door of opportunity to them. Trade union action is an extension of workers negotiating power, to demand living wages from their employers. The present doctor’s trade union action -- not to issue prescriptions to patients in government hospitals for drugs not available in those hospitals -- is aimed not at their employer -- the government of this country. 

Rather, their action either wittingly or unwittingly is aimed at the sick and the ailing from the poorer sections of this country. If doctors refuse to prescribe much needed medicaments, is not their action tantamount to slowly killing patients through willful neglect?The action is reminiscent of a particular insurgent group who threatened to kill parents of armed forces personnel if they did not resign their posts.

Today the wheel has turned full circle and bygones are bygones. Let us not forget that doctors themselves today are in a difficult position. The health minister himself  informed parliament that Sri Lanka currently lacks 1,139 specialist doctors, with only 2,042 serving in 134 key hospitals.

In turn, this means doctors are forced to work long hours. Therefore it is paramount that the government looks into the problems the GMOA has raised. Belittling the doctors’ trade union is not the best way to reach an amicable settlement to a problem, affecting such a large section of the population.

We can only hope, our present Minister of Health is not copying the style of American President Donald Trump who believes, bullying, insulting and threatening is the best means of negotiating. 

Today, the government has not been able to match wages with the rapidly rising cost of living. People are groaning under various burdens. They need a quick solution to the deteriorating state of our health services, on which the common man depends. They do not need an ugly confrontation between doctors and the government.