President Ranil Wickremesinghe had ordered the establishment of four new cancer hospitals and a specialised modern Children’s hospital, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said on Tuesday.
On the directives of the President, the Secretary to the President, E. M. S. B. Ekanayake directed the Health Ministry Secretary to formulate the required measures to establish specialised hospitals in Jaffna, Hambantota, Badulla and Anuradhapura Districts to treat cancer patients and a specialised modern Children’s hospital in a suitable location, the PMD said.
Sri Lanka has only one hospital dedicated to cancer patients–– the Apeksha Cancer Institute at Maharagama.
There were 29,604 cancer patients recorded in Sri Lanka in 2020, according to the World Health Organization, but the non-communicable disease has been spreading rapidly.