Some issues sorted out

Many contentions of the GMOA have been sorted out.

The GMOA’s protest over the Technical Committee not meeting in a month has been rectified.

The committee headed by the Director-General of Health Services to deal with this public health emergency which used to meet daily had not done so since the country opened up. However, on the urging of the GMOA, a meeting was held on July 11, said Dr. Haritha Aluthge, underscoring that “now is the time you need such a committee because once you open the country, the risk is more”.

When asked why the extensive guidelines set out by the Health Ministry to prevent COVID-19 from spreading have not been gazetted, he disclosed that it would happen this weekend, after discussions with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Tuesday attended by all stakeholders.

“There are guidelines for different settings and situations drawn up with input from many including the GMOA. The problem is that they are not considered law. When we requested that they be gazetted immediately, the President agreed and ordered that it should be done. There had been issues such as translation errors but now they have been dealt with,” he said.

Meanwhile, at a meeting the same afternoon at the Health Ministry, a concern that had been brought up was whether these powers could be misused. However, this would not happen if the proper chain of command and supervision is followed, Dr. Aluthge added.