Sri Lanka’s medical specialists say a Cabinet approved plan to address decades of professional injustice is under threat, warning that attempts to undermine a separate service minute could damage the public health system.
The Association of Medical Specialists has raised strong objections to what it describes as efforts by a group of medical officers to sabotage a Cabinet backed initiative aimed at resolving long standing grievances of government medical specialists. Central to the dispute is the proposed introduction of a separate service minute for specialists in the state health sector.
In a statement, the association said certain groups are threatening trade union action with the apparent intention of weakening ongoing government efforts to correct injustices that have affected medical specialists for decades. According to the AMS, these actions risk derailing a carefully considered policy process that has already received Cabinet approval.
Government medical specialists enter service with the highest qualification level under the Sri Lanka Qualifications Framework, classified as SLQF Level 12. Despite this, the AMS said specialists have been systematically denied their rightful professional status, privileges, and fair remuneration over many years. The association noted that successive salary revisions since independence have steadily eroded their service category status and relative benefits.
The AMS stressed that medical specialists function as team leaders and form the backbone of both curative and preventive healthcare services. However, these core issues have remained largely unresolved despite repeated appeals.
Against this background, the association said it united government medical specialists across the country and formally presented their grievances to the current administration in November last year. The AMS said it understands that the Cabinet of Ministers has since taken decisions to address these concerns, including the establishment of a separate service minute for medical specialists.
The association described the move as timely and far sighted, saying it would help stem the brain drain of specialists while improving the quality, safety, and sustainability of public healthcare services. It expressed gratitude to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake for what it called decisive leadership, and to Health Minister Dr Nalinda Jayatissa for presenting the proposal to Cabinet and consistently supporting specialists.
However, the AMS warned that it has learned of deliberate attempts by identified groups to mislead the government and medical officers through deceptive narratives and internal campaigns. It said government medical specialists, united under its leadership, will not tolerate any effort to derail the reform process and urged authorities to resist pressure from groups seeking to block their legitimate rights.
