Some 280 medical officers have applied for foreign no-pay leave so far this year, Deputy Health Minister Dr. Hansaka Wijemuni told Parliament on Thursday.
He said a total of 1,429 medical officers and 140 specialist medical officers are currently overseas on no-pay leave covering the period from 2020 to 19 June 2026. A further 3,791 medical officers migrated between 2020 and 2025.
The figures were given in response to a question from SJB MP Dayasiri Jayasekara.
Dr. Wijemuni said the majority of medical officers who have gone abroad did so for postgraduate studies.
That distinction matters to how the numbers are read. Foreign no-pay leave is an approved mechanism that allows public-sector doctors to work or study abroad while retaining their place in the service, and it is the standard route for specialist training overseas. An application for no-pay leave is therefore not the same as a permanent departure from the health service, and the annual figure captures both doctors who intend to return and those who do not.
The retention of state-sector doctors has been a persistent pressure point for the health ministry since the 2022 economic crisis, when a sharp rise in departures left gaps in specialist cover at several state hospitals. Successive health ministers have appealed to Sri Lankan specialists working abroad to return, and the government has faced repeated questions in Parliament over cadre shortages, allowance levels and delays in placing post-internship doctors in permanent appointments.
Neither the deputy minister’s figures nor the ministry’s own position address how many of those currently on no-pay leave are expected to resume service in Sri Lanka.
Update — allowances, cadre and internship backlog
In the same parliamentary exchange, Dr. Wijemuni set out the government’s response on the retention pressures raised by MP Jayasekara, EconomyNext reported.
Mr. Jayasekara pointed to an outdated 2015 cadre list, a Rs 6,000 allowance for medical administrators, and the Rs 70,000 Disturbance, Availability and Transport (DAT) allowance, which he said needs updating given current living costs. He also said around 2,500 graduates, including holders of foreign degrees, are waiting for internship training, while more than 2,000 post-internship doctors face delays in securing permanent appointments.
Dr. Wijemuni said a special committee under the Additional Secretary of Medical Services has formulated a revised cadre structure, and that a new “Mid-Grade” scheme is being designed to give grade medical officers clearer career progression.
On allowances, he said the ministry is weighing a fixed payment for specialists first. “We are currently discussing providing this as a fixed allowance for specialist doctors first, and personally, I believe we can achieve this within this year,” he said.
To clear the internship backlog, the deputy minister said placements would be run concurrently rather than sequentially. “To resolve this issue, we intend to attach them by overlapping their internship training postings,” he said.
