Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has approved a proposal for the country to host the World Health Organization’s Universal Health and Preparedness Review, an exercise intended to test and strengthen national readiness for health emergencies.
Cabinet Spokesman and Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa said the proposal was submitted by the Minister of Health and Mass Media after the government accepted an invitation extended to Sri Lanka by the WHO Director-General.
The review is a voluntary process. It is led by the host country rather than imposed by the WHO, and its findings are peer-reviewed by other member states — a structure designed to help governments identify gaps in how they prevent, detect and respond to health emergencies.
“The review will be conducted with the support of the highest level of government commitment, based on a whole of government and whole of society approach,” Jayatissa said.
The exercise is meant to go further than health-sector audits Sri Lanka has undergone previously, assessing preparedness systems across multiple areas of administration and public life rather than the Health Ministry alone.
“The review will go beyond previous assessment processes to strengthen inter-sectoral coordination, build optimal governance structures, and ensure financial commitment,” Jayatissa said.
The government said hosting the review reaffirms its commitment to strengthening health security systems, and that the process should upgrade the crisis frameworks already in place.
No date for the review was announced, and the Cabinet decision as reported did not specify a cost to the government, which agencies will be assessed, or which member states will act as peer reviewers.
The decision comes as the health system carries several concurrent pressures, including a dengue caseload that passed 94,000 for the year this week and drought conditions across the dry zone that have prompted government assessments of food and water supply.
As of late Tuesday, no other verified Sri Lankan newsroom had published its own report of the Cabinet decision.
