Dissanayake pledges to introduce e-health system as part of health policy

Presidential candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who unveiled his health policy today (Oct 15) pledged to introduce an electronic health (e-health) system, to maintain medical records of patients.

In his health policy which was revealed at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute today (Oct 15), Dissanayake said that the e-health system would aim to establish a connection between health authorities and the public.

Among other key proposals, was the establishment of an Accreditation Council to monitor all hospitals and the health service.

Among the policies was to prioritised an efficient health service that would see ISO standards certificates being issued to all hospital laboratories which have met the necessary requirements.

The National People’s Power (NPP) candidate said he would allocate five percent of the gross domestic production (GDP) towards the health sector before increasing it gradually.

All private hospitals would be regulated by the government, Dissanayake’s policy read, adding that he would not allow health services to be treated as a commercial product.

He said a 24-hour hotline would be launched to contact emergency units at hospitals, and that clinics and Out Patient Departments (OPD)’s would be kept open from 8 am to 8 pm including Sundays.

Dissanayake stated that a community doctor who is responsible to the government would be appointed to cater to the health needs of a specific number of families.

The flagship move of this project would see the appointment of a doctor to cater to the health needs of 1000 families at a particular divisional secretariat, he added.

The NPP’s Presidential candidate said he would introduce a system that would inter-connect all state hospitals to share health services and technical expertise.

Among other promises was to introduce a system to grant promotions, increase allowances and benefits for health sector employees based on their performance.

He said that all individuals above the age of 40 would be subjected to a full medical check-up atleast once a year.

Further, Dissanayake said that selling or producing food items which contains chemicals would be considered to be a serious offence, and that the law would be strictly enforced against such individuals.

He pledged to set-up a National Health Promotion Bureau to ensure the implementation of the health policies of his government.

See full Health Policy of Anura Kumara Dissanayake here

(Scenes witnessed at the launch of the Health Policy. Pics by Priyanka Samaraweera)