Hon’ble Minister of Health, Dr Keheliya Rambukwella; Hon’ble Minister of Education, Dr Susil Premajayantha; Secretary, Ministry of Education, Mr Nihal Ranasinghe; Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Vidya Jyothi Prof. Vajira H. W. Dissanayake; Deans of health-related faculties; Partners, colleagues and friends,
It is a pleasure to join you today, at the University of Colombo, to launch this path-breaking Centre for Health Systems Policy and Innovation, as well a special issue of the Ceylon Medical Journal (CMJ), devoted to primary health care.
Both initiatives are warmly received and will accelerate efforts here, as across the Region, to reorient health systems towards quality, accessible, affordable and comprehensive primary health care, to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) and health security.
I thank and commend all involved, especially the Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Vidya Jyothi Prof. Vajira H. W. Dissanayake, as well as the Editorial Board of the CMJ, and the Journal’s many contributors.
Your initiatives could not be more timely.
This year, we celebrate two important milestones:
First, WHO marks 75 years of protecting, promoting and supporting health and well-being, in accordance with the Right of every person, everywhere to the highest attainable standard of health.
And second, Sri Lanka marks 75 years of Independence.
But while marking these milestones, we also celebrate our shared journey, together.
Sri Lanka was one of the first of the now 194 countries to join WHO, and quickly established itself as a prominent champion globally of the Right to Health, expressed in WHO’s founding Constitution.
And in pursuing this Right, Sri Lanka was highly influential in promoting the primary health care approach to achieving UHC, which was later enshrined in the 1978 Declaration of Alma Ata, and then renewed in the 2018 Declaration of Astana.
Today, we build on and strengthen this legacy, committed to achieving UHC and health security in the shadow of the deadliest, most disruptive health crisis in more than a century.
For that, the Centre for Health Systems Policy and Innovation will work across three key streams:
First, building evidence for health systems policy and innovation;
Second, strengthening capacity for policy implementation, monitoring and evaluation;
And third, creating new opportunities to exchange knowledge and experience.
I express my utmost gratitude to the Government of Canada and Asian Development Bank for supporting the initiative, as well as to our friends and collaborators at the George Institute. My thanks also to the Deans of health-related faculties, many of whom are with us today, and will contribute to the initiative.
Today, we also launch a special issue of the CMJ, which presents new evidence to accelerate primary health care orientation, drawing on studies from across Sri Lanka.
Specifically, the findings highlight the need to achieve a better balance between facility-based specialist care and care provided at the community level; the need to recalibrate and adjust health workforce production and distribution, accounting for migration; and finally, the need to mobilise adequate and sustainable financing, while at the same time increasing the efficiency of funds already available.
Among other key takeaways, it highlights the critical importance of shifting away from siloed and fragmented service delivery, in favour of increased integration, especially at the primary level – a message that I fully endorse, and which is aligned with our Regional Strategy for Primary Health Care and Build Back Better vision.
Together, let us leverage these and other initiatives to accelerate Region-wide action to achieve Health for All, based on national priorities and policies, and while avoiding duplication and fragmentation.
In this milestone year, I reiterate WHO’s ongoing and unmitigated support, for a healthier, more equitable and sustainable future for all.
Thank you.