Doctors need emergency surgery - EDITORIAL

ext to the priesthood, the healing art or heart of medicine has been considered as a sacred vocation with medical doctors taking the Hippocratic Oath saying, “I solemnly pledge to consecrate my life to the service of humanity… I will practice my profession with conscience and dignity, my colleagues will be my sisters and brothers. I will maintain by all the means in my power, the honour and the noble traditions of the medical profession”. These and other sacred oaths were cut into bloody pieces on Wednesday which was one of the most disgraceful days for medical doctors in Sri Lanka. Rival factions of the 15,000 strong Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) -- considered to be one of the most powerful trade unions in Asia physically clashed and hammered each other at the canteen of the National Hospital of Sri Lanka (NHSL).

Media reports say the rival factions even threw bottles of sauce with one group threatening there will be a pool of blood if the other faction was allowed to hold another meeting.

Over the past few decades, the GMOA has built itself to become one of the biggest and most powerful trade unions in Sri Lanka. Whenever it called or warned of a strike or a work-to-rule campaign for reasons which had different degrees of validity, the governments were often forced to giving into the GMOA demands because thousands of innocent patients were suffering.

Power corrupts, as we see in party politics today and this is probably what happened to the GMOA. Since the powerful posts in the GMOA give prestige and popularity, there was an intense battle for such posts and the crisis has now exploded.

At the GMOA’s recent Annual General meeting there was  a court battle and police guards were called in. What happened or did not happen at that meeting led to last Wednesday’s canteen brawl when  a rebel faction of medical consultants were holding a meeting at the NHSL canteen. The rebels said their intention was to form a Colombo branch and they had obtained permission from the National Hospital Director Dr. Anil Jasinghe. The rebel faction alleged that after they were brutally assaulted by about 200 doctors from the GMOA’s main faction they obtained permission from the Hospital Ditrecor to continue their meeting at the auditorium of the –NeuroTrauma Unit.  

On Thursday both factions called media conferences where they hurled charges and gave a different diagnosis of the crisis. Independent health analysts said there was much significance in what a GMOA spokesman said. In recent months the GMOA under the leadership of Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya has gone beyond the personal grievances or aspirations of medical doctors and taken a strong stand on social justice issues. For instance the GMOA was in the forefront of the battle against the import of powdered milk specially after the DCD scare, the import of thousands of varieties of non-essential drugs under highly expensive brand names and the large scale import of agro-chemicals. But rebel factions are alleging that the present leadership like in politics wants to cling to power despite allegations of connections with organ transplant rackets.  

Whatever it is, the medical doctors last Wednesday indulged in an act of self-destruction of their image and reputation. They now need to conduct some emergency surgery to revive their image not only for the sake of doctors but more importantly for the sake of millions of people who need good doctors for them to lead a healthy life. Practically some devolution of power in the GMOA and a strict two-year limit on the post of president and other top posts could be part of the rescue operation.