$106.9 Mn to Strengthen Secondary Health Care in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO (News 1st); The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $106.9 million financing package to strengthen Sri Lanka’s secondary curative care services, improve communicable disease prevention and control, and enhance the health care sector’s governance and management capacity.

The funding for the Strengthening Integrated Health Care and Governance for Universal Health Coverage Program consists of a $100 million loan from ADB and a $6.9 million grant from the Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response Trust Fund.

“Sri Lanka has made impressive gains in ensuring access to and quality of health services for all,” said ADB Country Director for Sri Lanka Takafumi Kadono. “But with rising longevity and changing lifestyles, elderly health care needs and noncommunicable diseases are on the rise. Such demographic and disease pattern changes require a more robust secondary care to effectively provide patient-centered treatments and care services with enhanced case management capacity.”

This Results Based Lending program will enhance the quality, capacity, and efficiency of secondary care services nationwide by supporting result-oriented hospital development, while increasing the availability of integrated and patient-centered surgical and specialist treatment services in secondary hospitals. It will also help transform secondary health care into the first referral care in the patient care pathways with enhanced integration and resource sharing with primary health care facilities and non-health government services, while improving hospital infrastructure and service process in consideration of quality of care, climate resilience, gender responsiveness, and elderly friendliness. 

The program will support improvements in Sri Lanka’s pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capabilities through the establishment of a center for disease control; improve the capacity and accreditation mechanism of public health laboratories; and help implement the cross-sectoral integrated disease surveillance. It will also support measures to enhance the logistical capacity and quality assurance of pharmaceuticals, digitalization of government procurement system, and institutionalize the adoption of good government procurement practices in the health sector. This is part of ADB’s support to the government’s effort to strengthen integrity in the pharmaceutical regulatory, procurement, and supply chain.

Benefiting the entire population of Sri Lanka, these improved health systems will help healthy individuals take advantage of educational and economic opportunities, thereby contributing to overall societal development.

ADB is a leading multilateral development bank supporting inclusive, resilient, and sustainable growth across Asia and the Pacific. Working with its members and partners to solve complex challenges together, ADB harnesses innovative financial tools and strategic partnerships to transform lives, build quality infrastructure, and safeguard our planet. Founded in 1966, ADB is owned by 69 members—50 from the region.