Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom’s (UK) Department of Health and Social Care have held discussions on the commencement of the 2nd phase of the UK aid program to Sri Lanka.

The discussion was held during a meeting between British Acting High Commissioner Lisa Whanstall and Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena at the Temple Trees in Colombo yesterday (Aug.23).

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, a delegation from the Fleming Fund of the UK Department of Health and Social Care participated in the discussion.

British Acting High Commissioner Lisa Whanstal said the health care grants program, which was halted for the last couple of years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will resume in January 2024.

Under this grant, assistance will be provided to support the generation, sharing and use of antimicrobial resistance data to reduce drug resistance. It will support public health surveillance to help improve patient health, inform national health policies and warn emerging threats.

The grant program will be implemented with the assistance of the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization and other agencies. Under this programme training fellowships will be provided to health sector staff.

The Prime minister thanked the United Kingdom for selecting Sri Lanka as a recipient of this healthcare program, which will be immensely useful to advance the health system in the country. He pointed out that Sri Lanka’s health service is based on the British system and there will not be any difficulty in implementing such health care programs.

Meanwhile, the British Council’s Country Director Orlando Edwards presented a set of publications on English language training methods of the Council to the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Gunawardena urged the Acting High Commission and the British Council to introduce English Language education to youths in rural areas.

Dr Jessica Wallis and Dr Neha Gulati of the UK Fleming Fund, Andrew Price of the British High Commission and Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister, Deepa Liyanage also took part in the discussion.