ADRA and Oxfam through their European Union funded Assisting Communities in Creating Environmental and Nutritional Development (ACCEND) project donated IT and electronic equipment to the Regional Directorate of Health Services (RDHS) of the Monaragala district. The donated material and equipment will support the expansion of Health Information Management Systems (HIMS) in the Wellawaya hospital cluster and towards creating digital awareness regarding Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown origin (CKDu) in the Monaragala district through 28 primary health care institutions.
The equipment, worth LKR 13 million was handed over through a ceremony held on October 28th at the Wellawaya Base Hospital auditorium in the Monaragala district. The ceremony saw the participation of representatives from the RDHS office, the Wellawaya Base Hospital, Oxfam, and ADRA. The Regional Director of Health Services of Monaragala District, Dr. A.M.T.K Attanayake, and the Medical Superintendent of Wellawaya Base Hospital, Dr. N.A.M Ranadewa were among the attendees gracing the occasion. They expressed their sincere gratitude towards the intervention and pledged to effectively utilize the equipment to improve primary health care services offered to the public.
The Health Information Management System for the primary hospital cluster in Wellawaya was proposed by the former RDHS of Monaragala, the late Dr. P.D.K Adikari. His vision was to make Monaragala a pioneering example in the country by greatly increasing the effectiveness of the health services provided through enabling efficient management of patient flow and resource utilization. The current RDHS, Dr. A.M.T. K Attanayake thereafter took the initiative to fulfill the proposed activity. Wellawaya Base Hospital currently functions as a fully computerized hospital and will expand this system to 4 Divisional Hospitals: Buttala, Hingurukaduwa, Tanamalwila, and Handapanagala.
Furthermore, the project also supported 28 Healthy Lifestyle Centers in the hospitals of Monaragala by providing wide-screen smart televisions which will be utilized to create awareness on health, nutrition, hygiene, and prevention of non-communicable diseases and CKD/CKDu. Over 400 Government-approved videos will be streamed on these devices which will align with the project’s main outcome ‘to strengthen communities and public institutions towards an integrated, mutually accountable service delivery system in water, sanitation, hygiene, health, and nutrition’
