Rajitha calls for health reforms to mitigate spread of non-communicable diseases

Minister Rajitha Senaratne has stressed the need to mitigate challenges posed by non-communicable diseases especially in the Southeast Asian Region.

The Minister of Health while addressing the opening of the 144th Executive Board of the World Health Organisation called for an enhancement in basic healthcare facilities to curb the spread of non-communicable diseases.

"I strongly believe that there is a need to go for very focused health care reforms as well as to re-examine and introduce new cadres at grassroot level to work closely with affected target populations" Mr. Senaratne said.

Addressing the conference, Minister Senaratne pointed out that the southeast asian region has an immense capacity of playing a global role in developing health reforms.

He cited the free health care system in Sri Lanka, the presence of a family doctor for each citizen and the promotion of private-public partnerships in pharma production as an example of South Asia's capacity to play an active role in the health sector.