WHO credits Sri Lanka’s Institute for Health Policy (IHP)

Edward ARAMBEWALA

COLOMBO: The World Health Organisation’s SEARO office has credited Sri Lanka’s Institute for Health Policy (IHP) unit by appointing it jointly with Thailand’s International Health Policy Programme division (IHPP) to conduct a survey of how health promotion programmes in the region are being conducted.

According to WHO sources this decision has been taken at the 59th session of the WHO Regional Committee Meeting for South East Asia (SEARO) held in August last year in Bangladesh.

At the Bangladesh meeting the WHO has urged the regional countries to adopt new innovative and sustainable financing mechanisms with firm institutional bases for effective health promotion activities.

The WHO says that policy makers and administrators are the key to the formulation and development of any policy including health.

Hence, it is crucial for the WHO to understand the views of policy makers and administrators working in healthcare.

In this survey WHO is seeking their views on health promotion activities specifically. The Health Ministry has sent a circular to all heads of departments and institutions under the Ministry to assist the IHP in this survey.