The National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) at Angoda has been designated a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Dengue and Arboviral Diseases Training, the first hospital in Sri Lanka to receive the designation, Ada Derana reported on Wednesday. The four-year designation positions Sri Lanka as a recognised regional training hub for clinical and public-health staff working on dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases.
NIID Angoda Director Dr. A.P. Sandanayake said the centre has already trained health professionals from Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan in recent years, building the case for formal WHO recognition. Under the new designation, the centre will host structured training programmes for clinicians and laboratory staff from across the WHO South-East Asia Region on diagnosis, case management, vector surveillance and outbreak response.
The recognition lands at a moment of intensified dengue activity in Sri Lanka. The Epidemiology Unit reported 33,572 cases and 19 deaths by June 1 and the National Dengue Control Unit has extended its three-day national drive into a Dengue Control Week from June 15 amid larvae detection at over 6,200 sites across the country during the recent campaign.
The WHO designation is initially valid for four years, after which it can be renewed based on performance reviews. NIID Angoda — which functions as Sri Lanka’s main tertiary referral centre for infectious diseases — will continue to be funded by the Health Ministry, with WHO providing technical guidance and partial training-programme support under the Collaborating Centre framework.
Sources: Ada Derana — NIID Angoda designated as WHO Collaborating Centre for Dengue.
