Business

Hemas Hospitals makes national-level contribution through ‘Upakara’ initiative for deprived CKD patients

Published

3 years ago

2023/03/31

g over of the UPKARA offer: Standing Left to Right, L Ruwan Nishantha (beneficiary of the program), Prabhan Gunawardena (Director General Manager), Dr Pradeep Edward (Director General Manager), Dr Lakith Peiris (Managing Director)

In a concerted effort to ensure healthcare equity for all Sri Lankans, the country’s foremost trusted private healthcare provider Hemas Hospitals introduced ‘Upakara’, an unmatched timely initiative which offers free monthly dialysis cycles to a selected number of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) patients from low-income backgrounds, through Hemas Hospitals.

Hemas Hospitals’ Upakara is a one-of-a-kind initiative, contributing to the health and wellbeing of individuals from underprivileged and less fortunate communities, who are suffering from CKD. While most individuals face difficulties with affording basic healthcare during the country’s perilous economic situation, this facility will be considered a life-saving, monumental effort from a private healthcare provider, contributing on a national level.

“Chronic Kidney Disease is one among the most prevalent non-communicable diseases in Sri Lanka. Statistically, 20-25 percent of diabetic patients and 18-20 percent of patients with hypertension are prone to CKD. Holistically, one in 10 Sri Lankans is estimated to have CKD, while the vast majority is unaware of the fact that they have it, resulting in most patients seeking healthcare support at its late-stages. This forces CKD patients to either opt for kidney transplants or regular dialysis treatments, both bearing an intense level of financial burden on patients and their loved ones. Given the volatile macro-economic environment in the country today, this financial burden is heavier than ever before,” stated Dr. Lakith Peiris, Managing Director Hemas Hospitals.

“A statistically higher number of CKD patients from the underprivileged communities who are affected by fewer resources prompted us to address this issue by extending our support to these communities with essential infrastructure and services through Hemas Hospitals’ Upakara initiative,” he added.

CKD is fast becoming a major public health concern, attracting increased global attention due to rapid spread of the disease, and its grave impact on patients and their quality of life. With a larger number of CKD patients reported from Sri Lanka each year, the national healthcare system often finds it difficult to cater to the full requirement of all patients requiring dialysis, affecting their health and wellbeing on a large scale.

With the aim of ensuring good governance and community participation, Upakara will be overseen and operated by a governance committee inclusive of key opinion leaders within the hospital and communities.

With a vision of ‘Making Healthful Living Happen’, Hemas Hospitals intends to support CKD patients in a manner that eases the great financial burden that falls on them every month and enhances their access to life-saving dialysis treatment. At a time in the country when macro-economic volatility has destabilized personal economies, Upakara will lend greatly to easing the financial pressure of healthcare on these chronic patients and enable them to re-establish a sense of wellbeing.

“Therefore, in such a dire context, we believe Upakara is an important step forward in assuring health and healthcare equity in Sri Lanka, and consider it our duty as a responsible healthcare provider to ensure that all Sri Lankans have access to the life-saving treatment they require regardless of their financial background. Upakara was therefore borne with this vision, and we consider ourselves privileged to launch this vital CSR programme as we continue to work to eliminate disparities in the diagnosis and treatment of kidney diseases in Sri Lanka,” stated Dr. Peiris.

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Business

Sri Lanka rolls out digital signature framework to accelerate digital economy

Published

22 hours ago

2025/12/24

Sahan Weerasooriya

The LankaSign–eMudhra partnership brings together the strengths of LankaPay’s legally recognized digital signing certificates

Sri Lanka has launched a National Digital Signing Framework, a foundational initiative paving the way for paperless governance. This strategic move eliminates the need for physical signatures and documents in government transactions, aiming to dramatically enhance efficiency, transparency, and accessibility for citizens and businesses. An analyst said that this could accelerate Sri Lanka’s governance and commercial relationships with other countries as traditional signatures make room for digitally signed documents accepted by the government.

In this significant step toward accelerating Sri Lanka’s digital transformation, eMudhra, a global leader in digital identity and security solutions, has entered into a strategic partnership with LankaSign the only Certification Service Provider (CSP) in the country that complies with the Electronic Transactions Act No. 19 of 2006, operated by LankaPay, Sri Lanka’s national payment network during recently held inauguration of INFOTEL 2025 ICT exhibition at Sirimavo Bandaranaike Exhibition Hall.

The LankaSign–eMudhra partnership brings together the strengths of LankaPay’s legally recognized digital signing certificates issued via LankaSign – the pioneering digital Certification Service Provider in Sri Lanka established in 2009 – and eMudhra’s globally trusted emSigner platform, which has enabled secure digital document signing across more than 68 countries since 2008. Through this collaboration, Sri Lankan citizens and businesses will be able to experience a seamless, secure, and user-friendly digital signing solution, enabling documents to be signed anytime, anywhere using iOS, Android, or web-based applications.

This partnership with eMudhra aligns with the national agenda to promote adoption of digital documents, reduce dependency on paper-based processes, and facilitate a more efficient, transparent, and secure digital economy. This collaboration aims to support the government’s long-term digitalization roadmap by enabling a secure digital documentation layer essential for e-government services, digital finance, and digital transformation.

By Sanath Nanayakkare

Business

Dialog & University of Moratuwa launch open-source Sinhala Voice Model

Published

22 hours ago

2025/12/24

Sahan Weerasooriya

In a significant move to accelerate technological innovation in Sri Lanka, Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s #1 connectivity provider, and the Dialog-University of Moratuwa (UoM) Research Lab, has announced the release of SinhalaVITS, a state-of-the-art, open-source Text-to-Speech (TTS) model for the Sinhala language.

This non-commercial initiative delivers a powerful, high-quality, and natural-sounding Sinhala voice model to the public, making it freely accessible to developers, researchers, and students. The model is available for download on Hugging Face, the world’s largest open-source AI community, empowering anyone to build and experiment with advanced voice technology.

The SinhalaVITS model is the result of a deep-rooted collaboration that unites Dialog’s industry leadership with the academic excellence of the Dialog–UoM Mobile Communications Research Lab, fulfilling a vital need within Sri Lanka’s tech community for accessible, high-performance tools that drive innovation. By removing cost and licensing barriers tied to proprietary software, Dialog is empowering developers and researchers while fostering a more inclusive, collaborative, and future-ready AI ecosystem. This initiative further reinforces Dialog’s commitment to advancing Sri Lanka’s digital future—investing in open-source technology and academic partnerships to nurture local talent and lay the foundation for next-generation digital services built by Sri Lankans, for Sri Lankans.

Business

HNB signals ESG commitment with oversubscribed LKR 10 bn sustainable bonds

Published

22 hours ago

2025/12/24

Sahan Weerasooriya

The market opening ceremony conducted on the trading floor to mark the event

The Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB PLC) commemorated raising LKR 10 bn with its first ever issuance of sustainable bonds by way of a market opening ceremony conducted on the trading floor of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) last week.

The 9th December issuance of 100 mn listed, rated, unsecured senior sustainable bonds, in five year and seven-year tenors, with a par value of LKR 100/- and rated “AA-(lka)” By Fitch Ratings Lanka Limited, was oversubscribed on the same day, raising LKR 10 bn.

Sustainable bonds, which were launched in Sri Lanka for the first time this year, are part of a series of GSS+ (Green, Social, Sustainable & Sustainability Linked) debt instruments. The proceeds of the sustainable bond issuance will be used by HNB PLC to fund the development and installation of solar, wind, biomass and hydropower projects, improve energy efficiency through retrofits, fund the construction of recognized ‘green’ buildings, fund investment infrastructure for water treatment, water conservation and efficient agricultural water technologies, finance housing development, healthcare and education for low- and middle-income families, promote women entrepreneurship, amongst others initiatives.

Damith Pallewatte, Managing Director and CEO of HNB PLC, who was the ceremony’s keynote speaker remarked upon the issuance of sustainable bonds commenting: “HNB’s LKR 10 bn sustainable bond issuance is a landmark step in advancing Sri Lanka’s sustainability agenda.”

Delivering his welcome address at the event, Rajeeva Bandaranaike, CEO of CSE, remarked upon rising corporate engagement in CSE’s GSS+ debt instruments stating: “HNB’s Sustainable Bond represents a welcome new addition to the list of leading Sri Lankan financial instruments that have set the example for the success of CSE’s GSS+ Bond framework which have allowed the capital market to operate as a financing vehicle for sustainable and socially equitable projects.”