The strategic area of health promotion and risk reduction specifies the plans for the following: reduction of tobacco and alcohol use; promotion of a healthy diet high in fruit and vegetables and low in saturated fat and transfat, sugar and salt; promotion of physical activity and healthy behaviour; and reducing household air pollution (Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, 2016c). Cost-effective strategies adopted include NCD screening programmes at the community level and empowering communities to adopt healthy lifestyles. The NCD screening strategy consists of screening people above 35 years of age at healthy lifestyle centres (HLCs), workplace screening and mobile screening. HLCs will address risk reduction through early identification of both behavioural and intermediate risk factors. Currently, there are some 896 HLCs established throughout the country. Reorganization of primary health care has commenced. It will provide continuing care for NCDs closer to people’s homes. The Ministry has piloted a Package of Essential NCD Interventions (PEN) and adopted an Essential Services Package for Sri Lanka. Both these packages highlight the need for instituting opportunistic screening at primary health-care settings and these proposed changes would need extra HR with a better skill mix. This warrants a rescaling and retooling of existing staff to meet these demands.
5.1.6 Disease-specific campaigns In addition to the above programmes, specific diseases of public health importance are addressed through specialized vertical campaigns, administered centrally. Tuberculosis (TB), sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and leprosy are some such campaigns. The elimination of malaria and filariasis were led by two such vertical programmes. These programmes undertake preventive, curative and rehabilitative activities in disease-specific areas relevant to their mandate. The preventive and promotive components of these services as well as some curative functions reach the community through the MOH system.
5.2 Curative care services In the government sector, curative services are provided through an extensive hierarchical network of institutions ranging from primary medical care units (PMCUs), divisional hospitals (DHs), base hospitals (BHs), district general hospitals (DGHs), provincial general hospitals (PGHs), special hospitals and teaching hospitals (THs).13 13 Refer to Chapter 4, Table 4.1.
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