The Ministry of Health will inaugurate the upgraded Biomedical Engineering Services Centre on Tuesday (16 June), modernised at a cost of over Rs. 501 million with funding from the Korea International Healthcare Foundation (KIHF), alongside the distribution of Rs. 228 million worth of equipment to provincial units, Newswire reported.
The opening ceremony will be presided over by Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, with Deputy Minister Dr. Hansaka Wijemuni, Republic of Korea Ambassador to Sri Lanka Miyon Lee and KIHF Secretary General Baek Kwan-baek also attending, the report said.
The KIHF has financed the modernisation under a project titled “Capacity Building of Biomedical Engineering Services in Sri Lanka.” The centre operates under the Ministry of Health and Mass Media and the upgrade includes a new auditorium and additional technical and logistical facilities. The new auditorium is designed to support training for officers, technicians and engineers and provide visual facilities for demonstrations in academic and technical sessions.
A separate Rs. 228 million tranche has been allocated to engineering tools, medical testing equipment and repair tools for biomedical engineering services units established under six provincial councils — Central, North Central, Northern, Eastern, Uva and Southern.
Project activities under the KIHF programme include upgrading the central facility and its provincial units, establishing a medical-equipment inventory management system, providing testing and repair tools, supplying mobile workshop vehicles and running postgraduate and short technical courses to strengthen the capacity of biomedical engineering staff. Health Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe, additional secretaries, deputy directors general, directors and chief financial officers are expected to attend, alongside representatives of KOICA, Korea Exim Bank, KOTRA, the EPS Centre and the Saemaul Foundation.
The project sits within a wider Korea–Sri Lanka health cooperation track that has also produced a digital biosecurity partnership for shrimp aquaculture and a UNDP–CIABOC anti-corruption assessment supported by Korean funding.
Source: Newswire — Upgraded Biomedical Engineering Services Centre to begin operations tomorrow.
