The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) yesterday thanked the Government, Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi and the Health Ministry for issuing the Gazette notification on April 10 preventing students who did not sit the Advanced Level examination and who did not pass the Advanced Level examination from receiving the registration from the Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) as MBBS doctors, GMOA Media Spokesman Dr. Samantha Ananda said.
He told the media in Colombo yesterday that students who did not sit the Advanced Level examination or did not pass the exam cannot become an MBBS doctor and practise in Sri Lanka. He thanked all those people for enacting the law after a long delay.
Dr. Ananda said that during the former Health Minister Dr. Rajitha Senaratne’s tenure, students who did not sit the Advanced Level examination and those who sat in the Arts stream and students who failed all subjects received registration as MBBS doctors from the SLMC putting the lives of innocent patients in grave danger. GMOA Assistant Secretary, Dr. Navin De Soyza said that now all Sri Lankan patients are assured that they receive medical treatment only from qualified doctors.
On the other hand, all Sri Lankan students now exactly know that they cannot become MBBS doctors and get the registration from the SLMC using various tactics.
Their parents will now stop spending their hard-earned money on various unrecognised local and foreign medical faculties which offer medical education for unqualified students.
The GMOA struggled for several years to get this law enacted to assure the high quality of medical education in Sri Lanka and to ensure the safety of patients.
During the former Health Minister’s tenure, the SLMC was fully controlled by him to achieve his personal objectives. His henchmen were appointed to the SLMC to carry out his personal agenda. GMOA members were prevented from legally entering the SLMC by not holding the due elections, he added.