PRESENT STATUS OF PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IN SRI LANKA

 Present system of primary health care in Sri Lanka is influenced by the Alma-Ata Declaration.

Primary Health Care has two major parts
 Preventive care
 Curative care

Health Unit

The concept of Health Unit is the core of preventive primary health care
Health Unit Program
 “know your area, and know your people is the slogan of Ceylon health unit work”
 Each health unit
 Serves up to 60,000 people.
 Undertakes,
 Development of sanitary programs.
 Health education.
 Vaccination of children.
 Maternity and child welfare services etc.

Medical Officer of Health (MOH)

 A community physician.
 Serves as the director of the Health unit.
 Coordinate all the activities.
 Supervises the work carry out by the field staff.
 Investigates the health problems in the area.
 Public Health Inspector is responsible for 10,000 people.
 Public Health Midwife is responsible for 3,000 people.

Selective Primary Health care
 This is a package which contains,
 GOBI
 Growth monitoring
 Oral rehydration techniques
 Breast feeding
 Immunization
 Primary health care system in Sri Lanka is mainly based on the comprehensive package but it includes all the interventions in the selective primary health care.
 All four interventions are operating at high rates when it is compared to other countries.


Growth monitoring
 The growth of every possible child is measured. Highly successful.
 But the analyzing and intervention is poor.

Oral rehydration techniques
 Our Oral Rehydration Solution (Jeewanee) is very high in quality.
 It meets all the quality standards of WHO

Breast feeding
 Breast feeding rates are very high in Sri Lanka when compared to the other developed countries.

Immunization
 Goal,
 To reduce mortalities associated with vaccine preventable diseases.
 To eradicate Polio
 To achieve zero incidence of neonatal tetanus.
 To prevent congenital rubella syndrome.
 Every child (almost 100%) receives vaccination according to the national immunization schedule.
 This program is highly successful.
 E.g.: Polio eradicated from Sri Lanka.

Curative care
 Curative part of the primary health care includes,
 Peripheral hospitals
 Base hospitals
 Central dispensaries
 Rural hospitals
 But the services supplied by these institutions are very poor and due to that people bypass these institutions and seek the help of higher curative care institutions.
 E.g.: Teaching hospitals

Reference

 Sri Lanka national immunization program – financial assessment
 International breast feeding journal.
 Annual Health Bulletin-Sri Lanka 2003


OTHER AREAS OF INTEREST

PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
SRI LANKA
PRESENT STATUS OF SRI LANKA
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SYSTEM SOUTH ASIA
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IN ASIA
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SYSTEM GLOBALLY