International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition organized a two-day workshop, funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), to improve primary health care services in northern Sri Lanka.

The event, which brought together some 40 health professionals in Anuradhapura, was entitled, "Primary Health Care Model for the North".

Participants included health sector professionals from both national and provincial levels, together with representatives from the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organisation (WHO), and IOM.

The workshop looked at ways of managing a wide spectrum of issues, including the primary health needs of tens of thousands of displaced people returning to their places of origin, the challenges facing health workers in areas of return, and planning primary level health care for returnees.

"The need of the day is to put in a revitalized health system for the north that can address the many challenges and be sensitive to the local needs. Some of the changes that are currently expressed in ushering in a new primary health care model can be adapted to these local settings," noted Dr. Susie Perera, Director Policy and Development, Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition.

Participants also examined the challenge of rebuilding health infrastructure in the north, training for primary healthcare staff, introduction of health records for adults, and the provision of equipment and basic lab tests needed at primary level curative institutions.

Since the end of the conflict between the government and the LTTE in May 2009, IOM Sri Lanka, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, has provided emergency health care services to more than 200,000 displaced people in northern Sri Lanka.

Source: The Island Online