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; 93 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 322 billion (2023)[2] (4.1% of GDP)
Minister responsible	Hon. Harini Amarasuriya, 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.

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				Minister of Health, Indigenous Medicine and Social Services	[40][41]
				10 April 2004				Minister of Healthcare, Nutrition and Uva-Wellassa Development	[42][43][44]
				23 November 2005			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					[52][53][54]
	Rajitha Senaratne			12 January 2015	17 August 2015		Maithripala Sirisena	Minister of Health and Indigenous Medicine	[55][56][57]
			Sri Lanka Freedom Party[58][59]
			Democratic National Movement[60][61]
				4 September 2015	21 November 2019			Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine	[62][63][64]

Ministers of Nutrition

Name		Portrait	Party	Took office	Left office	Head of government		Ministerial title	Refs
	P. Dayaratna		United National Party	12 December 2001			Chandrika Kumaratunga	Minister of Health, Nutrition and Welfare	[37][38][39]
	Nimal Siripala de Silva		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	10 April 2004				Minister of Healthcare, Nutrition and Uva-Wellassa Development	[42][43][44]
				23 November 2005			Mahinda Rajapaksa	Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition	[45][46][47]

Ministers of Indigenous Medicine

Name		Portrait	Party	Took office	Left office	Head of government		Ministerial title	Refs
	Tissa Karalliyadde		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	19 October 2000			Chandrika Kumaratunga	Minister of Indigenous Medicine	[35]
				10 April 2004					[42][43]
	Piyasena Gamage		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	23 April 2010			Mahinda Rajapaksa		[48][49][50]
	Salinda Dissanayake		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	22 November 2010					[65][66]
	Rajitha Senaratne			12 January 2015	17 August 2015		Maithripala Sirisena	Minister of Health and Indigenous Medicine	[55][56][57]
			Sri Lanka Freedom Party[58][59]
			Democratic National Movement[60][61]
				4 September 2015	21 November 2019			Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine	[62][63][64]

Secretaries

Health Secretaries

Name	Took office	Left office	Title	Refs
T. R. C. Ruberu	25 April 2010		Health Secretary	[67][68]
Y. D. Nihal Jayathilaka	12 July 2012		Health Secretary	[69]
W. Sudharma Karunaratne	29 May 2014		Health Secretary	[70][71]
D. M. R. B. Dissanayake	19 January 2015		Health and Indigenous Medicine Secretary	[72][73][74][75]
Upali Marasinghe	8 September 2015		Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Secretary	[76][77][78]
P. H. J. B. Sugathadasa	16 June 2017		Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Secretary	[79]

References

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External links

• health.gov.lk