1. United Nations/ India/ ESA Regional Workshop on Using Space Technology for Tele-health to benefit Asia & the Pacific
Country Presentation – Sri Lanka
Dr. S. Terrence G.R. de Silva
Deputy Director General (Medical Services)
Dept. of Health Services – Sri Lanka

2. Socio-economic Indicators
Demographic Data
Total population million
Population Density -307 persons per sq. km
Urban population %
Socio-economic Indicators
Per capita GNP Rs. 176,890/=
(US $ 1599/=)
Adult literacy Rate %

3. Vital Statistics Crude birth rate- 18.9 per 1000 population
Crude death rate- 5.9 per 1000 population
Life expectancy at birth years
(Male Female combined)
Neonatal mortality rate-10.6 per 1000 live births
Infant mortality rate per 1000 live births
Maternal mortality rate-1.9 per 10,000 live births

4.                                                                                                                                  
Sri Lanka

5. Sri Lanka Is a small Island. 62,705 sq. km Length 435 km Width 225 km
Central mountainous region
peak height – 2,524 meters

6. Sri Lanka 9 Provinces 26 Health Districts
280 Medical Officers of Health Divisions

7. Is there a need for tele-medicine?
Access limited for certain sub-specialties like Cardiology, Neurology, Neurosurgery.
Shortage of Consultants in some provinces due to the current conflict situation in North & East provinces.
High cost for transportation of patients.
New technology is expensive.
Demand for Teaching in periphery.

8. The objectives of a tele-medicine project in Sri Lanka
To provide an opportunity to obtain the opinion of consultants in places where there are no consultants. (In clinical care, laboratory reports interpretation, radiology consultants)
For teaching purposes.
To obtain the 2nd opinion in respect of difficult cases.

9. Current Situation
Two major hospitals help out other hospitals in the periphery.
The National Hospital of Sri Lanka-
Colombo (Situated in the western
province, capital of Sri Lanka.)
Teaching Hospital, Kandy (Situated in
the central province, hill capital of Sri
Lanka)

10. Current Situation Peripheral Hospitals
District General Hospital, Ampara - Eastern Province
Base Hospital, Dehiattakandiya - Eastern Province
Teaching Hospital, Anuradapura - North Central Province
District General Hospital, Hambantota – Southern Province
District General Hospital, Badulla - Uva Province
District General Hospital, Mahiyangana – Uva Province
Divisional Hospital, Bandarawela – Uva Province

11. Available Resources
The following Instruments are available in
above mentioned hospitals
Two PC with servers
Scanner
Web Camera
Digital Camera
Lease line

13. Difficulties
Difficult to link with above hospitals due to lease line congestion.
Lack of knowledge about Telemedicine of staff .
Lack of awareness about importance of Telemedicine.
No proper maintenance of equipments due to lack of technical knowledge.
High cost of instruments

14. Future Plans Training of staff (From consultants to minor employees)
Awareness programmes for staff and public regarding Telemedicine.
General net work link with all the hospitals in Sri Lanka.
Budgetary allocations for the permanent staff to run the Telemedicine projects in each hospital.
Purchasing of Equipment.

15. Distant Teaching/ Learning Programmes
The Postgraduate Institute of Medicine conducts distant training programmes using dedicated web sides.
The students from all parts of the countries access these web sites in order to follow the courses. Students without computers use the closest computer laboratory of the Ministry of Higher Education.

16. Thank You