President praises universal health care system for successful battle against COVID-19

COVID-19 had shown the importance of having a centralised healthcare system, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa told medical interns during a workshop titled ‘Good Intern Programme’ organized by the Government Medical Officers Association (GMOA) yesterday.

The President said that although provincial councils controlled most of the hospitals in the country, there were still a number of institutions that were directly under the Ministry of Health. “If the provincial councils had controlled all the hospitals, we would not have been able to respond so effectively to COVID-19,” he said. Rajapajksa said that education was another field where centralised control was important.

The President said that a number of developed nations had failed to effectively respond to COVID-19 because they either responded late or did not have a universal healthcare system. “They also were not ready although there was time to get ready and they didn’t do enough testing. We didn’t turn back a single person suspected to be showing COVID-19 symptoms. I am proud to say that this victory is due to the universal healthcare system.”

The President said that the COVID-19 response had shown the strength of the Sri Lankan healthcare system and that steps should be taken to strengthen and further expand it. “We must invest more and these investments will benefit people greatly,” he said.

Addressing the interns, the President said that they had a great responsibility and that they should commit to themselves to ensuring the wellbeing of the people.

Around 660 interns took part in the event.