– The government has appointed Members of Parliament as District Health Coordinating Officers in a move to strengthen health coordination across every district, the Ministry of Health said.

The appointments have been made following a Cabinet Paper presented by Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa to appoint a group of Members of Parliament as “District Health Coordinating Officers” covering all districts in the country.

The proposed roles and responsibilities assigned to the appointed District Coordinating Officers include identifying health needs at the district level with a focus on public participation and prioritising them, facilitating the integration of those needs into national and provincial health plans, strengthening coordination and the efficient use of resources between the line Ministry and Provincial health institutions, coordinating the implementation of regional development plans in accordance with Ministry policies, identifying priority projects and recommending them to the Ministry and monitoring the progress of ongoing projects and assisting in their successful completion within the stipulated timeframe.

Accordingly, the following Members of Parliament have been named for the respective districts as District Coordination Officers through the Cabinet Paper:

• Anuradhapura: Susantha Kumara Navaratne
• Badulla: Ravindra Bandara
• Batticaloa: Kandasamy Prabhu
• Colombo: Dr. Najith Indika
• Digamadulla/Ampara: M.M. Sugath Rathnayake
• Galle: Dr. Nishantha Samaraweera
• Gampaha: Dharmapriya Wijesinghe
• Hambantota: Dr. Sandaruwan Madarasinghe
• Jaffna: Dr. S. Sribhavanandarajah
• Kegalle: R.M. Samantha Ranasinghe
• Kalutara: Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe
• Kandy: Thanura Dissanayake
• Kurunegala: Dr. Jagath Gunawardena
• Mathale: Ms. Deepthi Niranjani Wasalage
• Matara: Lal Premanath
• Monaragala: H.M. Sarath Kumara
• Nuwara Eliya: T. Manjula Suraweeraarachchi
• Polonnaruwa: Padmasiri Bandara
• Puttalam: Gayan Janaka
• Ratnapura: Dr. Janaka Senaratne
• Trincomalee: Roshan Akmeemana
• Vanni: Selvathambi Thilakanathan