The Homagama
Base Hospital and the Nagoda General Hospital are to established as National
and Teaching Hospitals to assist in clinical training at Moratuwa University
for the proposed medical faculties. Co-cabinet spokesman Bandula Gunawardena
told reporters today that a significant move is needed to establish a new
medical faculty as a national or teaching hospital for the students' clinical
training needs, i.e. to develop another medical school.
The creation,
accepted yesterday by the Cabinet of Ministers, is the culmination of a
proposal made by former JVP Kalutara District MP Dr Nalinda Jayatissa as a
private member to Parliament in 2018. Jayatissa argued at the time that Sri
Lanka only has 50 per cent of the number of medical doctors and medical
faculties available. Currently, State Universities can accommodate only 1,200
to 1,300 medical undergraduates per year. Hence, the need to create two more medical
faculties to increase student intake is of significant importance.
Jayatissa moved
two private member motions to set up medical faculties at the Universities of
Uva-Wellassa and Moratuwa, with Badulla and Nagoda Hospitals proposed as
"teaching hospitals." "To that end, it agreed to take over the
Kalutara General Hospital and Homagama Base Hospital and begin the process of
development to turn them into national or teaching hospitals," Gunawardena
said.
The Base Hospital
in Homagama is currently a care facility for patients with COVID-19. Later, the
then government included in their annual budget plan the plan to create a
medical faculty at Moratuwa University. Later the same year, the then
government involved in their yearly budget plan, the program to develop a
medical faculty at Moratuwa University.
The
pharmaceutical industry in Sri Lanka is estimated at USD 400 million annually.
Regulating the pricing of these medicines has a significant effect on the
population's health. The revised drug price formula implemented in 2016
guarantees that essential drugs should always go for below the maximum
recommended retail price.
Due to a very ageing
population, the demand for healthcare facilities is increasing in Sri Lanka. At
the end of 2017, nearly 10% of the population was 65 years. Experts predict
that this figure will double by 2030. The government stands clear on its policy
of offering public hospitals with free health care. In 2018, government
spending on the health industry amounted to about $1.3 billion. Increasing
access to private health services is also a government focus, as meeting the
demand for healthcare services is hard for the public sector alone.
The private sector
has made significant investments in health care, particularly in Colombo and
some of the main towns, which has eased some of the state's burden. With higher
revenue rates and shifting preferences, demand for healthcare in the private
sector has risen. Health insurance provision has also backed development in the
private healthcare industry.
OSL Take: The
construction of two new hospitals indicate the upliftment of the primary
healthcare sector in Sri Lanka reports the development/investment opportunities
in Sri Lanka's health sector. The government of Sri Lanka has also placed
importance in the country's health sector and is looking at developing the
existing structure while also considering new options to be included in the
system. The state has also given priority to the manufacturing of
pharmaceuticals within Sri Lanka with foreign assistance.
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