The Hon. (Dr.) Janaka Senarathna

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, in this year’s Budget, out of the total Rs. 8,980 billion, 50 per cent—Rs. 4,495 billion—is for debt service in 2026. Yet Rs. 654 billion is allocated to Health and Mass Media—about 7 per cent of total expenditure including debt service. Of the recurrent Rs. 543 billion, Rs. 292 billion is for health sector salaries—about 3 per cent of total expenditure.

¶ 02 The Leader of the Opposition cited incorrect salary figures for doctors—numbers from 2024. A post-intern medical officer’s basic is around Rs. 75,000 now and will increase in January. Of the health allocation, Rs. 43 billion is for hospital development, Rs. 6 billion for indigenous medicine, and Rs. 187 billion for medical supplies. For the Triposha programme—nearly sold off by previous governments—we have allocated Rs. 12.9 billion. Capacity building for health workers is Rs. 24.9 billion. For Suwa Seriya, Rs. 4.2 billion. Significant funds are allocated for staff quarters and accommodation for doctors and health staff. The Leader of the Opposition served as Deputy Minister of Health (2001–2004) and as Minister of Housing, Construction and Cultural Affairs (2015–2019); why did he not address quarters and salary issues then?

¶ 03 Cabinet decisions include compensation for 12 patients who lost vision from contaminated eye drops during surgeries at Nuwara Eliya District General Hospital—Rs. 1 million each for two, Rs. 750,000 each for two, Rs. 700,000 for one, and Rs. 250,000 each for two. Approval has been given for a project to produce assistive devices for persons with disabilities locally.

¶ 04 On medicine prices, for the first time in history prices of 350 medicines were reduced. Also, the public service pension rights removed since 2016 have been restored, benefiting over 12,000 doctors among others. Specialist service schemes are being finalized. Transfers are being systematized with digitalization and proper data systems. Returning specialists after foreign training will get initial postings and better facilities; we are updating allowances for those on overseas training and addressing transport—now a hot topic—recognizing DAT and salary increases are insufficient alone; adjustments will follow economic growth and National Wage Commission recommendations.

¶ 05 On recruitment, we managed to recruit over 70,000 to the public service this year, including 303 Ayurvedic doctors, 1,000 attendants, 182 watchers, etc. In 2025, of 85 vacancies for entomological officers, 26 were recruited; of 165 dental therapist vacancies, 63 were filled; of 222 ECG technicians, 58; of 56 Public Health Laboratory Technicians, 15; of 370 pharmacists, 133. We recruited 3,525 nurses—the largest single intake in history—and got Cabinet approval to admit 2,650 to nursing schools in 2025.

¶ 06 To streamline procurement, we are preparing new guidelines, introducing e-procurement and framework agreements, and enabling government-to-government sourcing of drugs and equipment.

¶ 07 I table two documents. The Opposition Leader cited selective indicators; WHO’s 2018 “100 core health indicators” spans input, output, outcome, and impact. On input side—per capita health expenditure and out-of-pocket expenditure—Sri Lanka ranks low among countries. On RTA deaths, WHO 2021 shows 11.5 per 100,000; suicides 15.9 per 100,000; and homicide 2.3 per 100,000 (2018). I also table a 16 July 2025 research article “Sri Lanka’s Economic Crisis and the Migration of Doctors” (Madunil Nirielle, Nilanthi de Silva, Janaka de Silva, Saroja Jayasinghe et al.) highlighting mass migration of 1,489 doctors from 2022–2024 due to the economic crisis. Rather than ignoring causes, we must address them. Thank you.