Sept 17, Colombo: Health Minister Dr. Keheliya Rambukwella says that the country’s primary health care system is being strengthened in the midst of the global Covid disaster and it will further strengthen the provision of primary, secondary and tertiary care services.

The Minister made this disclosure speaking through Zoom Technology at a ceremony held today (17) at the Office of the Director of Healthcare, Quality and Safety at the Castle Street Women’s Hospital on the occasion of World Patient Safety Day

The theme of this year’s International Patient Safety Day is “Safe maternal and newborn care”.

In parallel to the event, a handbook containing an action plan for correcting mistakes in the use of medicines recognized as a major problem for patient safety, was also launched.

At present, a large number of programs have been implemented to improve the safety and quality of patients in the country's hospital system and accordingly steps have been taken to improve the quality of prenatal wards and clinics, maternity wards and postpartum wards in all hospitals, the Minister said.

This is evident from the declining maternal and neonatal mortality rate at a time when there is a global epidemic in the country, the Minister remarked. He also said that the improvement in the provision of human resources, infrastructure and modern technological equipment for the health system has had a significant impact on this.

In particular, the government is working to improve the quality of maternity and newborn care services through the provision of these resources, he said.

Speaking further Minister of Health Dr. Keheliya Rambukwella said the Government of this country is fully committed to providing a high level of care and attention to its patients. In providing these services, the government is committed to finding solutions to limited health staff and financial crises.

“We have seen the results achieved through the guidelines established to ensure the quality and safety of the service provided by every healthcare institution. This is evident from the fact that the infection rate and maternal mortality rate have been reduced due to the improvement in the sanitation of the hospital system in the country.”

He said the Healthcare, Quality and Safety Division of the Ministry of Health has become the center of programs for the quality of the National Health Service and it allows the flow of the programs to the base hospitals and regional hospital systems and its evaluation.

This national program was organized by Dr. Devani Ranaweera, Director, Healthcare, Quality and Safety.

Maj. Gen. Dr. Sanjeewa Munasinghe, Secretary to the Ministry of Health, Dr. Asela Gunawardena, Director General of Health Services, Dr. Alaka Singh, World Health Organization representative in Sri Lanka, Additional Secretaries to the Ministry of Health Dr. Lakshmi Somatunga, and Dr. Sunil de Alwis were also present.