Sinhala doctors unlikely to accept Jaffna vacancies- Director

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 November 2007, 18:59 GMT]
Although Sri Lanka Health Ministry has appointed 69 newly qualified doctors to Jaffna peninsula to fill the urgent shortage of doctors, the success of this effort is likely to be limited as more than 50 are Sinhalese, and due to the extraordinary situation prevailing in Jaffna peninsula many will decline to accept their positions, Dr. A. Ketheeswaran, Director of Public Health Service (DPH) Jaffna said. Further 24 of the new appointees are assigned to positions in the divisional hospitals, and DPH is finding it difficult to provide proper residential facilities, the director added.

Twenty four doctors are slated to serve the government hospitals in rural areas like Chaavakachcheari, Manthikai, Valveddiththu’rai, Thellipa’lai, Maanipaai, Koapaai and Kayts in the Jaffna district.

Only 42 doctors are working presently in Jaffna Teaching Hospital which needs more than a hundred doctors.

The Tamil doctors passing out of Jaffna University have been appointed to hospitals in Colombo and other metropolitan areas on merit basis, sources close to DPH said.