Sri Lanka's approach to Primary Health Care: a success story in South Asia

Abstract

This paper argues that Sri Lanka's primary health care program succeeded in reducing mortality and promoting health in the early twentieth century as it tackled the most serious health problems across the country with the help of local communities. The early achievements in health were sustained by broad-based social welfare measures adopted by successive governments since political independence in 1948. This was the key strategy of the selective primary care promoted by the Rockefeller Foundation. Keywords: Selective primary care; health units; Kalutara; Rockefeller Foundation DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/gmj.v16i2.3749 GMJ 2011; 16(2): 24-30