President Rajapaksa has said that the Government has honoured the pledges enthroned in the Mahinda Chinthana to protect the Free Health Service, thus creating a golden era for the Service. The President expressed this view joining in a ceremony to hand over letters of appointment to health service personnel today; the first time that such a large number of personnel was recruited to the health service.
The handing of letters of appointment for the recruitment and training of 10,400 health service personnel to constitute an efficient and comprehensive health service with advanced human resources took place under the patronage of President Rajapaksa at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo this morning. 6500 were recruited for nurses’ training while 1900 who completed training were recruited to the Nursing Service. 2000 were recruited for paramedic services across 14 grades. The President handed over the letters of appointment to personnel representative of all Provinces in the country.
Further expressing his views, the President emphasized that Sri Lanka was leading in the Health indices not only in South Asia but in the entire Asian region. A fully-fledged hospital network has been built covering all the districts. He mentioned that a massive number of recruitments had been made into the health sector during the past period. It is a two-fold increase in comparison with the recruitments made before the present Government assumed power. The allocation made by the present Government for the Free Health Service in the budget is a four fold increase when compared to the allocation made in the 2005 budget. The President pointed out that this amounted to 155 Billion Rupees.
The President mentioned that this is the golden era of the Free Health Service.
He mentioned that Sri Lanka is leading in the health indices not only the South Asian region but also in the entire Asian region. He told the gathering that the country had been able achieve this status due to their services. This is a great honour for the country. Sri Lanka has maintained a high standard in the field of healthcare since time immemorial. He was optimistic that these new recruits would be totally dedicated to their service. If they acted as exemplified by Florence Nightingale, the President pointed out that they could be satisfied in having fulfilled their responsibility.
Minister Maithripala Sirisena described the event as a historic occasion. He identified it as a revolution in the health sector. This is the first time that such a large number is being recruited to the Health Service during the regime of President Rajapaksa. He expected them to discharge their duties to the maximum treating all patients alike.
Deputy Minister Lalith Dissanayake and President of the Public Service United Health Union the Ven. Muruttettuwe Ananda Thera were among the large gathering present.
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