Sri Lanka private healthcare leaders recently pledged an action plan with timelines to address the practical priorities of Sri Lanka’s healthcare sector while making it more viable for local and foreign investments.

The Association of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes (APHNH) has committed to converting recommendations from its first Healthcare Leadership Summit into a trackable outcome document with defined actions, responsibilities, and timelines, marking a shift from discussion to implementation in sector reform efforts.

The summit held on March 9 at Waters Edge, Colombo, brought together hospital leaders, policymakers, regulators, insurers, and international experts to address practical priorities for Sri Lanka’s healthcare sector.

A key outcome of the summit was APHNH’s plan to consolidate recommendations into a single, trackable charter that will outline specific actions, assign responsibilities, establish timelines, and provide periodic progress updates.

“Our objective is to bring the right decision-makers into one room and focus on what can be implemented, not only what can be discussed, ” said Raveen Wickremesinghe, President of APHNH. “We are committed to taking the inputs from today and converting them into a clear, trackable set of actions that strengthens quality, transparency and public confidence, while supporting national health priorities. “

The summit featured insights from Dr. Hafeez Rahman Padiyath, Dr. Hamdani Anver, and Chandana L. Aluthgama on scaling quality and operational discipline. A keynote and fireside discussion with Dr. Paiboon Eksangsri, President of the Private Hospital Association of Thailand, explored lessons from Thailand’s private healthcare development and conditions for making Sri Lanka more competitive for healthcare investment.

By Sanath Nanayakkare

Atlas, Sri Lanka’s No. 1 learning brand, successfully concluded Atlas SipSavi Naththal Poronduwa, a national initiative that saw strong public participation in supporting children at risk of dropping out of school due to financial hardship. At a time when more than 22,000 Sri Lankan children leave school each year due to rising economic challenges, the initiative reinforced Atlas Sipsavi’s long-standing ‘No Child Left Behind’ promise by turning seasonal generosity into meaningful educational support.

The initiative reached 10,000 students, with beneficiary schools carefully selected to ensure support reached those most in need. The collected books were distributed to children at risk of dropping out, including those whose education had been disrupted by recent adverse weather, ensuring students had essential learning resources at the start of the new school term. Through its flagship Atlas SipSavi programme, the brand focused on improving access to education by providing essential learning tools, scholarships, and infrastructure to create better learning environments, bringing its purpose of ‘making learning fun’ to life in a meaningful way. As part of the initiative, the public was invited to donate schoolbooks, with each contribution matched one-for-one by Atlas. Donation boxes were placed at all Keells outlets island-wide and at Sarvodaya District Offices, making it easy for communities to take part.

CSE trading was slow at the outset yesterday but later sprang to life due to bargain-hunting of valuable stocks at lower costs. The All Share Price Index went down by 265 points, while the S and P SL20 declined by 75 points. Turnover stood at Rs 5.3 billion with nine crossings.

The top seven crossings were reported in Melstacorp, where 2.4 million shares crossed at Rs 164 each, Access Engineering 4.4 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 315 million; its shares traded at Rs 71.50, ACL Cables 3.3 million shares crossed for Rs 304 million; its shares traded at Rs 92, Hemas Holdings 2 million shares crossed for Rs 61 million; its shares sold at Rs 30.50, Laugfs Gas 1 million shares crossed for Rs 59.2 million; its shares traded at Rs 57.50, Colombo Dockyard 254,000 shares crossed for Rs 33 million; its shares sold at Rs 130, and JKH 1.5 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 30 million; its shares sold at Rs 20.

In the retail market top seven companies that mainly contributed to the turnover were; ACL Cables Rs 447 million (4.8 million shares traded), Hemas Holdings Rs 371 million (12.2 million shares traded), HNB (Non-Voting) Rs 183 million (524,000 shares traded), Commercial Bank Rs 164 million (806,000 shares traded), Prime Lands Residencies Rs 148 million (2.9 million shares traded), Aitken Spence Rs 143 million (1 million shares traded) and Colombo Dockyard Rs 115 million (916,000 shares traded). During the day 150 million share volumes changed hands in 37217 transactions.

It is said that mixed reactions were noted in all sectors. Manufacturing sector; JKH and ACL Cables performed well. In the banking sector HNB performed well. In the real estate sector Prime Lands performed well.

Yesterday the rupee was quoted at Rs 311.00/10 to the US dollar in the spot market, from Rs 311.00/05 the previous day, dealers said, while bond yields were broadly steady.

A bond maturing on 15.12.2029 was quoted flat at 9.55/60 percent.

A bond maturing on 01.03.2030 was quoted at 9.60/66 percent.

A bond maturity in 01.07.2030 was quoted at 9.65/75 percent.

A bond maturing on 01.10.2032 was quoted at 10.22/25 percent, down from 10.20/30 percent.

A bond maturing on 01.06.2033 was quoted flat at 10.47/53 percent.

A bond maturing on 01.06.2033 was quoted at 10.50/60 percent.

A bond maturing on 15.06.2034 was quoted at 10.70/75 percent, up from 10.70/73 percent.

By Hiran H Senewiratne