Sri Lanka to launch National Health Policy on December 10th

Health Minister of Sri Lanka, Maithripala Sirisena says that the National Health Policy for the next five years would be launched on December 10th.
Minister Sirisena told parliament that there are 50 million patients who seek treatment from government hospitals every year. He said the highest fund allocation to the health sector has been made in the 2013 budget with an allocation of Rs. 125 billion for next year while only Rs. 90 billion had been allocated for health sector in the previous budget. Minister Sirisena pointed out that the main opposition United National Party (UNP) had only allocated Rs. 34 billion for the health sector during their rule. According to Sirisena, there was no major issue with regard to pharmaceuticals in the country. He said 841 varieties of medicine were imported in 2011, out of which only 14 were found to be of substandard conditions.