Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2017-06-27

Construction of a Building for National Sexually Transmitted Diseases and the National AIDS Control Programme

- National Sexually Transmitted Diseases and the National AIDS Control Programme is a public health programme which works as the national focal point in Sri Lanka for the identification, treatment and prevention of Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV), Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD). Currently, 23,000 new patients visit the clinic annually for treatment and it has been estimated that around 4,000 undiagnosed HIV patients are there within Sri Lanka.

The Head Quarters of this programme is presently, situated at De Seram Place, Colombo 10 and several other units of the programme are conducted in a rented out building at Jaya Mawatha. As such, the proposal made by Hon. (Dr.) Rajitha Senaratne, the Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, to construct newly a four storey building in the same place where the Head Quarters of the programme is located, in order to avoid the difficulties arising as a result of conducting the activities of the programme in two different places, was approved by the Cabinet.