The National Mental Health Programme, organised by the Directorate of Mental Health under the Ministry of Health and Mass Media, was launched on Wednesday morning at Viharamahadevi Park in Colombo, Hiru News reported.
The programme is aimed at encouraging social dialogue, breaking the silence around mental health, and promoting positive attitudes toward suicide prevention.
The launch
A public awareness walk led by Deputy Minister of Health Dr. Hansaka Wijemuni preceded the launch, starting outside the Ministry of Health and Mass Media and proceeding to Viharamahadevi Park.
The event was held in conjunction with World Suicide Prevention Day, observed on September 10, and aligned with the global theme “Changing the Narrative on Suicide.” The national communication theme was “Building hope and resilience through art and a positive mind” — the programme uses art and creative expression to help people relieve stress and build resilience.
Addressing the gathering after the walk, Wijemuni said mental health conditions, like physical ones, can be either identifiable or subtle, and stressed early detection and treatment. He said community mental health services would be expanded into rural areas through Arogya Wellness Centres, alongside a nationwide community mental health initiative.
The figures presented
Dr. Eranga Rajapaksha, Director of Mental Health at the ministry, said a suicide occurs every 40 seconds globally, claiming more than 720,000 lives a year. She said local data over the past decade indicates between 3,100 and 3,500 suicides in Sri Lanka annually, and described this as a toll society has both a responsibility and the capacity to reduce.
Rajapaksha said the National Institute of Mental Health is running awareness programmes for parents and teachers aimed at building life skills and resilience in children.
The ministry reminded the public that the 1926 National Mental Health Helpline operates 24 hours a day, offering assistance and professional counselling to anyone in distress or struggling to cope.
Also attending were Acting Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Mass Media G.M. Janaka Kithsiri Gunawardena, health officials, mental health specialists, representatives of voluntary organisations and members of the public.
The Arogya connection
The commitment to route rural mental health services through Arogya Wellness Centres ties this programme to the ministry’s largest primary-care undertaking. The 1,000-centre Arogya project was launched on August 31 with Rs. 50 million allocated per centre and 39 centres then operating.
No timetable, budget or staffing plan for the mental health component was given, and the report does not say how many of the wellness centres will offer mental health services or when.
Two points of record
Hiru’s report places the launch on Wednesday morning while World Suicide Prevention Day falls on Thursday, September 10 — the event preceded the day it marks. Separately, the outlet’s own article URL describes it as National Suicide Prevention Day while the body of the report correctly names the World Suicide Prevention Day observance.
The archive spells the deputy minister’s name Hansaka Wijemuni across 28 earlier reports; Hiru renders it “Wijemunique” in this piece.
Sourcing note
This report rests on a single newsroom. No other verified outlet had covered the launch at the time of writing, and Ada Derana was unreachable throughout this cycle, its domain returning a CloudFront 403 on every request.
