India undertakes construction of 200 - bed ward complex at Vavuniya District Hospital

The Indian government is undertaking a project to construct a 200-bed ward complex at District Hospital, Vavuniya as part of its development partnership with Sri Lanka and in response to requirements projected by the Sri Lankan government. A contract agreement in this connection was entered into by the Indian High Commission with Wahid Constructions.

The project will be implemented under a full grant assistance of Rs 200 million from the Indian government. The project for the construction of a ward complex at District Hospital, Vavuniya was submitted by the Health and Indigenous Medicine through the External Resources Department in February 2012.

The project envisages construction of a four-storey ward complex to improve infrastructure of the hospital to meet the growing demand for better treatment facilities.

The project will be implemented in cooperation with the Health Ministry and the Northern Province Indigenous Medicine Ministry. The project is expected to be completed by February 2014. The construction of the 200-bed ward complex at Vavuniya will cater to medical needs of indoor-patients admitted to the hospital from Vavuniya and adjoining districts.

India has been providing assistance on priority to improve Sri Lanka's health sector.

The Indian government supplied high valued critical medical equipment to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital in January 2011 and to the District Hospitals at Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu in January 2012 at Rs 230 million.

India is also constructing a 150-bed base hospital at Dickoya at a cost of Rs 1.2 billion which will be fully functional by April 2013.

The Indian government also announced a gift of a Bhabatron Telecobalt Radiotherapy Machine to the Sri Lankan government which is to be installed at the General Hospital in Hambantota. India has been supporting projects for rehabilitation, resettlement and well-being of displaced persons in the Northern Province in the areas of shelter (through donation of roofing sheets and bags of cement and reconstruction and repair of houses under the Indian Housing Project for 50,000 houses), healthcare (providing emergency medical relief, organising artificial limbs refitment camps and equipping hospitals), livelihood generation (provision of fishing equipment, tractors, bicycles, trishaws, agricultural equipment and seeds), education (repairs of 79 schools, distribution of computers and printers to schools, establishing nenasalas, supply of buses to educational institutions and setting up of vocational training centres) and infrastructure development (restoration of Northern Railway lines, rehabilitation of Palaly Airport and Kankasenthurai Harbour).