The key take home from the workshop were: the Regional Epidemiologist – Dr. P. Hemachandra – stressing the need for Syndromic surveillance; especially, the ability to monitor escalating fever like disease and geographic clusters of increase in common symptoms. Dr. Lakshman Edirisinghe (Deputy Director Planning) emphasized the need for comprehensive patient clinical data for becoming a data driven organization that can optimize the resources opposed to speculative expert opinion. The group also realized that the present day activated passive surveillance system does not catch the epidemic at the root but reacts to merged incidences. The Public Health Inspectors were keen in adopting the Alerting element to reduce the time spent on commuting between their jurisdiction and the Medical Officer of Health departments to receive and deliver papers that communicate their investigations. These were all that the Real-Time Biosurveillance Program (RTBP) addressed in its two and a half year action research. The initial results are promising but requires more work before nationalizing and scaling. The Wayamba Provincial Director of Health Services concluded the sessions stating that the Kurunegala district will scale the RTBP in to all hospitals with the help of the Ministry of Health and Dialog Telekom’s Corporate Social Responsibility program. The RTBP Principal Investigator, Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne (General Secretary Sarvodaya), was delighted to see the community and government working hand-in-hand towards making Sri Lanka a healthier society. He stressed that our focus should be on community development and Sarvodaya will continue to support these initiatives.
Renowned Bangladeshi Telecom expert and LIRNEasia Senior Policy Fellow Abu Saeed Khan passes away
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Abu Saeed Khan, a renowned telecommunications expert, and Senior Policy Fellow at LIRNEasia. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.
LIRNEasia is hiring: Communications Intern
LIRNEasia is seeking a talented individual to join the team as a Communications Intern. The full job description is available here.
Sri Lanka needs policy reforms to align with evolving digital economy: LIRNEasia Senior Research Manager Gayani Hurulle
Gayani Hurulle, Senior Research Manager at LIRNEasia, recently discussed the challenges facing Sri Lanka’s digital economy in an interview with Yarl TV. Gayani highlighted various policy challenges and opportunities pertaining to the digital economy, drawing on LIRNEasia’s research.
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