Health & Education

Sri Lanka’s free, universal public health care system dates back to the 1930s. While the system is rooted in urban centres, public service provision has long since expanded into rural areas and is available island-wide, though concerns persist about the relative quality of these services beyond the major towns and cities. The Sri Lankan government has made a concerted effort to develop the education sector in recent years, seeing this as fundamental to its overall push to become an upper-middle-income country. This effort includes increased public spending, institutional and curricular reform and expansion, and the redevelopment of the foundations of the education system. At the same time the government is stepping up outreach efforts to encourage more students to pursue degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and to develop forward-looking IT skills. This chapter contains an interview with Shyam Sathasivam, President, Sri Lanka Chamber of Pharmaceutical Industry.