Non-Communicable Disease
Studies | Publications
| Related work
Following Sri Lanka's successes in reducing mortality from communicable diseases, the country's disease burden is now dominated by NCDs. This shift portends one which most developing countries are facing or will face in future. With this shift, mortality and morbidity is increasingly due to such diseases as ischaemic heart disease, diabetes and hypertension. This epidemiological transition coupled with demographic ageing presents enormous challenges to poor countries such as Sri Lanka. Not only does it raise significant challenges for prevention, but it also poses significant demands on the need for and provision of medical treatment.
Research into the policy implications and impact of NCDs is a high priority for IHP. This is based on an assessment that these evolving problems will require new solutions and paradigms, many of which have not yet been developed in the context of developing countries, as well as evidence that NCDs continue to be under-researched both in Sri Lanka and globally.
Current research programme
Our current research is focused on three areas: (i) improving the statistical evidence base of NCD trends in Sri Lanka, (ii) developing a framework for updating the national policy framework for NCDs, and (iii) developing rational treatment guidelines for NCD management in countries such as Sri Lanka and Maldives.
Our current research includes:
- In our work with the World Bank on its Sri Lanka Aging Study, we have focused on assessing the current status of the NCD epidemics in Sri Lanka, and assessing current policies. more >>
- Analyses of the most recent databases of death registration data in both Maldives and Sri Lanka to analyze recent trends and patterns of NCD mortality in both countries.
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