The 14th National Steering Committee meeting on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: Good Health and Well-being was convened by the Ministry of Health on 19th February 2025

The 14th National Steering Committee meeting on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: Good Health and Well-being was convened by the Ministry of Health on 19th February 2025. The Steering Committee meeting was chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Anil Jasinghe.

The meeting provided a critical platform for reviewing the country's progress on SDG 03 indicators and highlighted the importance of collaborative efforts to address health-related challenges.

In his opening remarks, the Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Anil Jasinghe provided a comprehensive background on the establishment of the SDG Steering Committee, emphasizing the need for a structured approach to monitoring, evaluating, and accelerating efforts towards achieving the targets set under SDG 3.

The primary focus of the meeting was the review of progress on health related SDG indicators as well as a detailed evaluation of the current national targets, challenges within the healthcare system and identifying feasible solutions to address the challenges in the health sector. One significant area of focus was the need for enhanced disaggregation of health data, particularly for indicators such as the number of new HIV infections, by sex, age, and key populations.

A presentation was also delivered by Dr. Sumal Nandasena, Deputy Provincial Director of Health Services, Western Province, on the analysis of universal health coverage (UHC), Sri Lanka's current position, country comparison and the challenges in improving UHC indicators.

The meeting concluded with a renewed commitment to intensifying efforts towards meeting SDG 3 targets, alongside improving mechanisms for data collection and analysis.

The meeting was attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Health, representing all relevant divisions, including the Family Health Bureau, Epidemiology Unit, Mental Health Unit, Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Unit, Dengue Control Unit, and the National STD/AIDS Control Programme, as well as officials from the Sustainable Development Council, Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka Police, National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol, and international development agencies such as UNICEF and the WHO.