World Bank approves $150m for improved primary healthcare in Sri Lanka

The funding allows an enhancement project to cover the country’s primary medical care institutions.

The World Bank has approved $150m in financing for Sri Lanka to improve the quality and utilisation of its primary healthcare services and institutions.

“Sri Lanka’s health system has demonstrated remarkable performance, but it needs to be strengthened to face emerging health care challenges,” Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Country Director for Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, said.

The newly approved Sri Lanka Primary Healthcare System Enhancing project is set to cover 100% of primary medical care institutions across all districts and will expand to over 1,000 facilities.

Moreover, the project will focus on the nation’s evolving health priorities such as effective non-communicable disease control and management, and the growing needs of the ageing population to invest in preventive care and promote primary care facilities as the first point of care.

In addition, the project is set to expand the capacity of primary healthcare services to cover palliative, geriatric, rehabilitative, and emergency care.

“This project will support the country’s forward-looking primary care reorganisation agenda, laying the foundation for a more responsive and people-centric healthcare system,” Hadad-Zervos said.