A World Health Organization (WHO) expert team has arrived in Sri Lanka to review the progress of the country’s health system and submit recommendations to strengthen it further, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
The team also met Minister of Health and Mass Media Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa today (20).
The meeting focused at length on the current performance of the health system and the progress of the government’s programme to establish Arogya Health and Wellness Centres to strengthen the primary healthcare system, the Health Ministry noted.
The expert team will remain in Sri Lanka until Friday (24) to carry out its study. WHO Representative to Sri Lanka Dr. Rajesh Sambhajirao Pandav also attended the discussion held at the Ministry of Health and Mass Media.
During the meeting, Minister Jayatissa briefed the delegation on pilot projects to establish 1,000 Arogya Health and Wellness Centres and on programmes to digitalise primary healthcare services. He also explained the achievements and challenges of the pilot programme.
The Health Minister said the main objective of establishing these centres is to control non-communicable diseases, early detection of illnesses, and provide people at the village level with faster, higher-quality healthcare services closer to their communities. He said the centres would provide services such as screening for non-communicable diseases, early cancer detection, elderly care and palliative care, specialised clinics, nutrition and counselling services, and laboratory testing. He also briefed the delegation on staffing and the expansion of the project.
Dr. Jayatissa said the government expects to use the recommendations made through the expert review to further develop Sri Lanka’s health service network into a more efficient and people-centred system.
The discussion also focused on the potential to improve efficiency through the digitalisation of health services, as well as the technical and financial support the WHO could provide for this purpose, the Health Ministry added.
