Sri Lanka’s Health Ministry will install 16 cardiac catheterization (cath) laboratories at major government hospitals during 2026, under instructions from Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, doubling annual treatment capacity for heart procedures.
The Rs. 3,103 million project will deliver new machines to Colombo, Kandy and Galle National Hospitals along with the teaching hospitals at Batticaloa, Ratnapura, Badulla, Jaffna, Kalubowila, Anuradhapura and Kurunegala, and the District General Hospital at Trincomalee.
The Treasury has allocated Rs. 715 million for four machines at Batticaloa, Ratnapura, Badulla and Galle. The Asian Development Bank’s Health System Improvement Project is funding Rs. 1,188 million for three machines at Colombo National Hospital and one each at Kandy, Jaffna and Kalubowila.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) assistance is providing Rs. 1,200 million for six machines, including two at Anuradhapura and one each at Kurunegala, Badulla, Kandy and Trincomalee.
With the new installations, the government hospital cath lab network will rise to 26. Existing facilities operate at Colombo, Kandy and Galle National Hospitals; Jaffna, Kurunegala, Ragama, Kalutara, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa District General; Lady Ridgeway and Sirimavo Bandaranaike children’s hospitals.
The expansion is expected to reduce waiting lists, enable 24-hour services for heart attack patients, and lower mortality and morbidity from heart disease.
Cath labs are used for angiograms, angioplasty and stent placement — the core diagnostic and interventional tools for coronary artery disease. The announcement follows the Galle National Hospital’s rebuttal of opposition claims that stent shortages had disrupted services there.
