COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
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7 MARCH <strong>2012</strong> SRI LANKA<br />
the public sector free of charge, but thereafter patients need to purchase their own<br />
dialysis consumables at the price of Rs. 1,300 (£7) each. She added that people who<br />
can afford treatment in the private sector are often unable to access it because of the<br />
high demand and they end up in a queue.<br />
―Mrs Gunesekera explained that many of the hospitals mentioned above, in both public<br />
and private sector, were able to carry out kidney transplant operations. She added<br />
however that the biggest problem was finding donors. There has never been a national<br />
campaign to encourage organ donation, and there is not a national register of organ<br />
donors in Sri Lanka. Locating a suitable organ was down to the individuals requiring a<br />
transplant to advertise in the newspapers to seek out donors. Many people who can<br />
afford it choose to go overseas for a transplant, to Singapore, US, <strong>UK</strong>, or more likely<br />
India. Persons who cannot afford to go overseas can make an application to the<br />
President‘s Fund for assistance with funding.‖<br />
MENTAL HEALTH<br />
23.21 The World Health Organisation (WHO) report, The New Mental Health Policy for Sri<br />
Lanka 460 , undated, accessed on 3 February <strong>2012</strong>, noted that ―It has been estimated that<br />
nearly 400,000 Sri Lankans suffer from serious mental illness. In addition, about 10%<br />
are thought to suffer from other more common mental health problems. The estimated<br />
prevance [sic] of depression amongst the general public varies from 9% to 25%.‖<br />
23.22 On 23 June 2010 the Daily News 461 reported that:<br />
―Sri Lanka's progress in the mental health sector is commendable and Sri Lanka has<br />
achieved a significant improvement in human resources development and expansion of<br />
resources and facilities. Sri Lanka is on the right track when it comes to improving<br />
mental health care, said WHO Representative Dr. Firdosi Rustom Mehta…<br />
―Sri Lanka has the world's 10th highest suicide rate. Earlier Sri Lanka had the world's<br />
highest suicide rate, Dr. Mehta said that Japan has the world's eighth highest suicide<br />
rate and Sri Lanka is placed below Japan and some Baltic and Eastern European<br />
countries.<br />
―Sri Lanka is doing much better in the field of mental health when comparing with the<br />
world's status.‖<br />
23.23 Additional information on this issue is available from the website of the NGO Sri Lanka<br />
Sumithrayo 462 (accessed on 3 February <strong>2012</strong>), which noted that: ―The current suicide<br />
rate in Sri Lanka is approximately 20 per 100,000 of population (2009 police department<br />
statistics). In simple terms on an average we lose 4000 people a year due to death by<br />
460 World Health Organisation (WHO), The New Mental Health Policy for Sri Lanka, undated,<br />
http://www.whosrilanka.org/LinkFiles/Press_Releases_New_Mental_Health_Policy.pdf date accessed 25<br />
January 2010<br />
461 Daily News, Lanka's progress commendable – WHO, 23 June 2010<br />
http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/06/23/news13.asp date accessed 8 October 2010<br />
462 Sri Lanka Sumithrayo, Statistics & Data, undated http://www.srilankasumithrayo.org/statistics-a-data<br />
date accessed 3 February <strong>2012</strong><br />
The main text of this <strong>COI</strong> <strong>Report</strong> contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February <strong>2012</strong>.<br />
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section<br />
to 2 <strong>March</strong> <strong>2012</strong>.<br />
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