Govt. allocates over Rs. 28 bfor 5-year nutrition program

Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Dr. Rajitha Senaratne said that the Government has allocated Rs. 28.2 billion for the National Nutrition Program in the next five years.

Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Dr. Rajitha Senaratne

Pointing out that a nutritious food pattern is essential for good health, Senaratne said the public should be made aware of the importance of using healthy foods as well as buying nutritious foods for the value of the money. He made this statement participating at the launch of the ‘Health Sector Cost of the National Nutrition Program of Sri Lanka’ recently at the BMICH in Colombo.

He said the Government has allocated a large amount of money for improvements in health and nutrition.

Of the money allocated for the Health Ministry in the 2016 budget, around Rs. 100 million has been spent to promote health and nutrition, the Minister said. He added that the UNICEF and other NGOs have also allocated a large amount of funds to uplift the nutritional standards of the Sri Lankan people.

In addition, the Health Ministry has implemented a program to eliminate bad health habits and a number of measures have been taken to minimise smoking. A colour coding system has also been introduced to identify sugary beverages.