Perera, Antoinette and Gunasekara Vidana Mestrige Fernando, Chamath (2017) PRIMARY HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS (PRIMASYS) - Case study from Sri Lanka. World Health Organization, WHO.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
The Sri Lankan health system is pluralistic, and largely adopts an allopathic approach. Early organized systems of care provision began with the initiation of the health unit as the basis for community-based care in 1926. Alternative health care methods, such as ayurveda and traditional healing, were functioning even at that time. Currently the allopathic system encompasses curative and preventive health care through a decentralized management approach that operates throughout the country in the public sector, whilst the private sector provides services according to market demand. The health system has seen incremental changes over the years and was largely set up during the time when communicable diseases were prevalent and episodic management was a key feature. The present health burden of noncommunicable diseases needs to be addressed and further changes to the organization of primary care are in progress. The purpose and objective of the study is to describe the present system for primary care at national and subnational levels in a pluralistic health care delivery context, identifying key entry points to strengthen the system. The allopathic system is emphasized in this study, as it is the dominant health care component.