Ministry of Health (Sri Lanka)

The Ministry of Health^[3] (Sinhala: සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය, romanized: Saukhya Amāthyānshaya; Tamil: சுகாதார அமைச்சு, romanized: Cukātāra Amaiccu) is the central government ministry of Sri Lanka responsible for health. The ministry is responsible for formulating and implementing national policy on health, nutrition, indigenous medicine and other subjects which come under its purview.^[4]

Ministry of Health

සෞඛ්‍ය අමාත්‍යාංශය சுகாதார அமைச்சு
Ministry overview
Formed	1931; 94 years ago (1931)
Jurisdiction	Government of Sri Lanka
Headquarters	385 Ven. Baddegama Wimalawansa Thero Mawatha, Maradana, Colombo 6°55′12.40″N 79°51′54.60″E
Employees	150,273 (2020)[1]
Annual budget	LKR 604 billion (2025)[2] (6.7% of GDP)
Minister responsible	Nalinda Jayatissa, Minister of Health
Child agencies	List Ayurvedic Medical Council Department of Ayurveda Department of Health Services Medical Research Institute National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol National Health Council National Health Development Fund National Institute of Health Science National Institute of Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation Private Medical Institute Council Sri Lanka Ayurvedic Drugs Corporation Sri Lanka Medical Council Sri Lanka Thriposha Limited State Pharmaceuticals Corporation State Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Corporation
Website	health.gov.lk
Map
Location in Colombo District

Provincial councils are constitutionally responsible for operating the majority of the Sri Lanka's public hospitals but some, known as line ministry hospitals, come under the direct control of the central government in Colombo. As of 2016 there were 47 line ministry hospitals (including all of the country's teaching hospitals), accounting for 47% (36,000) of all public hospital beds in the country.^[5]

The current Minister of Health portfolio is held by Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya since 2024.

Ministers

The Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine is a member of the Cabinet of Sri Lanka.

Parties

  Governors of British Ceylon   United National Party   Sri Lanka Freedom Party   Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party   Eelam People's Democratic Party   Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna   National People's Power

Ministers of Health

Name		Portrait	Party	Took office	Left office	Head of government		Ministerial title	Refs
	T. B. Panabokke			1931	1931			Minister of Health	[6][7]
	W. A. de Silva			1936	1946				[8][9]
	S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike		United National Party	26 September 1947	12 July 1951		D. S. Senanayake	Minister of Health and Local Government	[10][11]
	Dudley Senanayake		United National Party	1952			Dudley Senanayake		[12]
	E. A. Nugawela							Minister of Health	[13]
							John Kotelawala		[14]
	Vimala Wijewardene		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	12 April 1956	June 1959		S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike		[15][16]
	A. P. Jayasuriya			26 September 1959	8 December 1959		W. Dahanayake		[17]
	M. V. P. Peiris			23 March 1960	1960		Dudley Senanayake	Minister of Health and Social Services	[17]
	A. P. Jayasuriya			23 July 1960			Sirimavo Bandaranaike	Minister of Health	[18]
	Badi-ud-din Mahmud			28 May 1963				Minister of Health and Housing	[19]
	M. D. H. Jayawardena		United National Party				Dudley Senanayake	Minister of Health	[20][21]
	George Rajapaksa		Sri Lanka Freedom Party				Sirimavo Bandaranaike		[22][23]
	Siva Obeyesekere		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	1976	1977				[24][25]
	Ranjit Atapattu		United National Party	1982	1989		J. R. Jayewardene		[26][27]
	Sunethra Ranasinghe		United National Party	1983	1985				[28]
				1985	1989			Minister of Women's Affairs and Teaching Hospitals	[29]
	Renuka Herath		United National Party	1989	1994		Ranasinghe Premadasa	Minister of Health and Women's Affairs	[30][31]
	A. H. M. Fowzie		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	1994			D. B. Wijetunga	Minister of Health and Social Services	[32]
							Chandrika Kumaratunga	Minister of Health, Highways and Social Services	[33][34]
	John Seneviratne		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	19 October 2000				Minister of Health	[35][36]
	P. Dayaratna		United National Party	12 December 2001				Minister of Health, Nutrition and Welfare	[37][38][39]
	Nimal Siripala de Silva		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	14 September 2001	10 April 2004			Minister of Health, Indigenous Medicine and Social Services	[40][41]
				10 April 2004	23 November 2005			Minister of Healthcare, Nutrition and Uva-Wellassa Development	[42][43][44]
				23 November 2005	23 April 2010		Mahinda Rajapaksa	Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition	[45][46][47]
	Maithripala Sirisena		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	23 April 2010	21 November 2014			Minister of Health	[48][49][50][51]
	Tissa Attanayake		United National Party	11 December 2014	12 January 2015				[52][53][54]
	Rajitha Senaratne		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	12 January 2015	17 August 2015		Maithripala Sirisena	Minister of Health and Indigenous Medicine	[55][56][57]
	Rajitha Senaratne		United National Party	4 September 2015	21 November 2019			Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine	[58][59][60]
	Pavithra Devi Wanniarachchi		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	22 November 2019	12 August 2020		Gotabaya Rajapaksa	Minister of Healthcare and Indigenous Medical Services
			Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	12 August 2020	18 April 2022			Minister of Health
	Channa Jayasumana		Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	18 April 2022	9 May 2022
	Keheliya Rambukwella		Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	23 May 2022	22 July 2022
				22 July 2022	23 October 2023		Ranil Wickremesinghe	Minister of Health and Water Supply
	Ramesh Pathirana		Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna	23 October 2023	24 September 2024			Minister of Health
	Harini Amarasuriya		National People's Power	24 September 2024	18 November 2024		Anura Kumara Dissanayake	Minister of Health	[61]
	Nalinda Jayatissa		National People's Power	18 November 2024	Incumbent			Minister of Health and Mass Media	[62]

Secretaries

Health Secretaries

Name	Took office	Left office	Title	Refs
T. R. C. Ruberu	25 April 2010		Health Secretary	[63][64]
Y. D. Nihal Jayathilaka	12 July 2012		Health Secretary	[65]
W. Sudharma Karunaratne	29 May 2014		Health Secretary	[66][67]
D. M. R. B. Dissanayake	19 January 2015		Health and Indigenous Medicine Secretary	[68][69][70][71]
Upali Marasinghe	8 September 2015		Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Secretary	[72][73][74]
P. H. J. B. Sugathadasa	16 June 2017		Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Secretary	[75]