A leading Australian doctors' organisation has called on a group of doctors to quit their hunger strike. But the five men, who have gone without food for more than one month while protesting outside the gates of the New South Wales state parliament, say that they have a moral obligation to continue.
Their action is an appeal to the federal government to recognise the skills of overseas doctors without their having to pass the Australian Medical Council (AMC) examination. The Doctors Reform Society (DRS) believes that there is no reason for or benefit in continuing the strike as the Australian public is now aware of their cause. The society became interested in the strike because of concern about the worsening health of the striking doctors.
The strikers are now Australian citizens and complain that when they were temporary foreign resident doctors they had previously been allowed to practise in the Australian health system. They claim that the AMC examination includes ridiculous questions and is a sham, saying that Australian born doctors of their own age group would also fail.
A democrat senator and former general practitioner, Dr Arthur Evans, warned that the protesters are becoming critically ill. He believes that the current Liberal government is avoiding addressing the issue.
The strike followed the launch of an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission into complaints by surgeons trained overseas that the accreditation of surgeons in Australia is racist. The surgeons' complaint was supported by a report from the New South Wales Ethnic Affairs Committee, the Anti Discrimination Board and the Equal Opportunity in Public Employment organisation. The strikers have now appealed to international authorities, including Unesco and the World Health Organisation.