Institute of health policy sri lanka

Welcome to the Institute for Health Policy

The Institute for Health Policy is an independent research institution, and a regional centre of excellence for health policy research, working on its own, in partnerships and with sponsors, to improve health and social systems in Sri Lanka and the wider region, by supporting, encouraging and informing policy change, through quality research, analysis and training. >> More.

HP carries out research across a wide range of areas, ranging from ageing and population to social protection and pensions. To browse by research area, Click here

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With the rapid gains that Maldives has made in recent years in both economic and social development, Maldivian policy-makers are increasingly facing new challenges. IHP has been making its contribution to more informed policy in the country, by working in several areas of health and social policy, ranging from tackling the challenge of NCDs to the problems of social protection and inclusion.
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--> We will be holding a full-day conference at the Galle Face Hotel to share findings from the SLHAS study, to explain research opportunities, and to discuss future plans

We will be holding a full-day conference at the Galle Face Hotel to share findings from the SLHAS study, to explain research opportunities, and to discuss future plans. click >>More.

Chinese Health Officials Study Sri Lanka's Maternal and Child Mortality Reduction

Sri Lanka's achievements in achieving rapid and sustained reductions in maternal and child mortality provide a potential model for other developing countries. Working with MoH counterparts, IHP organised a tailored programme of visits for senior Chinese health leaders to learn first hand about the Sri Lankan experience.
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--> Sri Lanka Health Accounts: National Health Expenditure 1990-2019

Regular tracking and reporting of health expenditure flows is vital to understand and monitor Sri Lanka's health system. The original Sri Lanka Health Accounts (SLHA) system and Sri Lanka National Health Accounts (SLNHA) framework were designed by IHP staff, led by Ravi P. Rannan-Eliya, working under the direction of the Ministry of Health Management Development and Planning Unit and with the funding support of World Bank during 1998-1999. Sri Lanka Health Accounts (SLHA) estimates describe how much the country spends on healthcare, and how this is spent and by whom, applying international definitions. We have released our new publication Sri Lanka Health Accounts: National Health Expenditure 1990-2019. Electronic version of this publication and other expenditure tables and figures are accessible at ihp.lk/slha.

The incidence of government health spending in Asian countries

Work by the Equitap consortium, led by IHP, has revealed how well different Asian health systems perform in protecting the poor. In its latest publication in the World Bank Economic Review, Equitap analyzes the incidence of government health spending in different countries, finding that in a few such as Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Hong Kong, government spending is pro-poor. >>More.

--> Growing Old Before Becoming Rich: Challenges Of An Aging Population In Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka's population has largely stopped growing, and it is older and will age more rapidly than most other developing countries. Sri Lanka's critical problem is that it will grow old before it becomes rich. As Sri Lanka's population ages, the costs of looking after the needs of the elderly will increase and will translate into increased fiscal costs for government. Whilst social norms still largely ensure that the family looks after their own elderly, the numbers of elderly living alone are already increasing at a rapid pace. This trend is as fast as that experienced by Japan in the 1970s. Sri Lankan policy makers should learn from Japanese experience that this is likely to lead to rapid changes in future, and that a policy which assumes family will continue to bear the burden will increasingly not be realistic. >>Read more

Visualization of the source of COVID-19 cases in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has still to start releasing daily details of its Covid-19 cases and the findings of the critically important contact tracing effort, as does Singapore and Hong Kong. However, the Health Promotion Bureau has been innovative in its decision to publish a regularly updated data feed on overall numbers, and in the past few days the Epidemiology Unit has released online details of cases to date. Based on that initial release, our team at IHP generated the graphic below summarising what we know about the first 78 cases (as of 22 March). Please click here to view the COVID-19 cluster visualization and the discussion.