Dearth of paediatricians hits Govt hospitals

by Carol Aloysius

There is a severe dearth of paediatricians and community physicians in the country. Government hospitals across the country, have only 200 paediatricians and 44 community physicians to serve thousands of patients needing their services, a spokesman for the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) said.

"The limited cadre of paediatricians at present means that there is one paediatrician for every 100,000 people ratio-wise. Although we have a cadre of 240 Community physicians, there are only specialised 44 doctors in these fields in Government hospitals," GMOA spokesman Dr. Naveen de Soysa told the Sunday Observer.

He said this shortage in cadre was due to the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine (PGIM) now conducting only one postgraduate examination for paediatricians and community physicians annually. "Earlier the PGIM conducted two examinations an year which meant that more doctors passed out. From this year however, it has been decided to hold only one examination, thus limiting the number of doctors passing out and causing a severe dearth of specialists in these two fields", he said.

He said that the GMOA would take up the matter with the Health Secretary and the PGIM Director to rectify the situation as proper patient care was being seriously eroded by limiting the number of doctors passing out in the two fields.