BOC, Dialog Axiata and Wavenet partner in COVID-19 relief initiative for the public

From left: Dr. Lal Panapitiya, Deputy Director Medical Services, Dr. Lakshmi Somathunga, Additional Secretary, Public Health Services, Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya, President, GMOA, Dr. Sunil De Alwis, Additional Secretary, (Medical Services), Dr. Asela Gunewardena – Director General of Health Services, Minister of Health Pavithra Wanniarachchi, State Minister Channa Jayasumana, Kanchana Ratwatte, Chairman, Bank of Ceylon, Supun Weerasinghe, Group Chief Executive, Dialog Axiata PLC and Suren Pinto, Chief Executive Officer, Wavenet International (Pvt) Ltd

Supporting the national effort in the fight against COVID-19, Bank of Ceylon, Dialog Axiata PLC and Wavenet International (Pvt) Ltd have partnered to establish the national 1390 COVID-19 Integrated Home-based Care Solution, a consolidated hub combining a digital platform and an outreach centre to better manage the home-based care of PCR positive asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic patients, for the first time in Sri Lanka.

This project was initiated by the Ministry of Health (MOH), guided by Dr. Asela Gunawardena – Director General of Health Services, in collaboration with the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) under the directive of the President and the minister of health.

The fully-fledged integrated home-based care solution will help reduce the burden on the hospital healthcare system and support COVID-19 patients presenting mild or no symptoms with a practical and hassle-free recovery process. The objective of the 1390 home-based care solution is to provide maximum comfort to asymptomatic patients, enabling them to be isolated at home while also being remotely monitored by a qualified doctor.

The integrated call centre solution, manned by Bank of Ceylon, is a combination of the toll-free, trilingual 1390 hotline powered by Dialog, that provides connectivity between doctors and patients, along with a patient management system that caters to the requirements mandated by the Ministry of Health (MOH) & Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA).

The Patient Management System is developed and sponsored by Wavenet. The call centre facility, along with the agents specially trained by the MOH, is sponsored by the Bank of Ceylon for its duration, while Dialog will provide the telecom service free of charge. Coordination of the entire project, including training and deployment of doctors at district level, will be facilitated by the GMOA in collaboration with the Ministry of Health.

Clinical expertise is provided by the association of specialists in family medicine, University academics and specialists in different other medical specialities such as internal medicine, emergency medicine, paediatrics, and obstetrics. The entire programme is administered, facilitated and governed by the MOH under the guidance of Secretary Health and Director General Health Services.

The 1390 trilingual service is free of charge for all Sri Lankans, and it can be accessed by dialling 1390 from any network.