Tracking delivery on manifesto promises

Increase the treatment capacity of Ayurvedic hospitals, including the number of available beds.

Why this status: The Department of Ayurveda's current official site lists national competitive procurement for hospital equipment for the Borella Ayurveda National Hospital and continuing hospital-related development activity. This is a concrete capacity-building step, but the available record does not quantify new beds or show that treatment capacity has been increased across Ayurvedic hospitals.

Implement special oral health promotion programs aimed at reducing Early Childhood Caries (ECC) among preschool children.

Why this status: The Ministry of Health's Annual Health Bulletin 2024 records a national prevention-and-management initiative for early childhood caries, alongside programmes for pregnant mothers and schoolchildren. This shows the relevant oral-health programme is being delivered, but the bulletin does not provide an outcome measure showing a reduction in ECC among preschool children or establish that the programme was newly expanded to fulfil the pledge.

Provide home-based and institution-based palliative care services for patients with incurable diseases, including cancer and stroke.

Why this status: Sri Lanka now lists a National Policy on Palliative Care for 2025–2030, and the National Cancer Control Programme coordinates hospital, community, hospice and home-based care. This is a substantial service and policy foundation, but the evidence does not establish universal coverage for all people with incurable cancer and stroke.

Provide community-based rehabilitation services, either within the patients’ own environment or in specialized centers.

Why this status: The Ministry of Health's 2025 Annual Action Plan funds community-based rehabilitation for people with leprosy-related disabilities, including planned provision of rehabilitative support. This is a concrete but disease-specific component of the broader pledge; the source does not show universal community-based rehabilitation or a network of specialised centres for all patients.

Implement programs to promote mental health among children and adolescents, focusing on preventing substance abuse and violence.

Why this status: The government has delivered school and youth programmes on mental well-being, counselling, screening and drug prevention. However, the cited progress record does not substantiate the pledge’s specific violence-prevention component, so this is assessed as partial delivery.

Establish a mechanism for early detection of mental health disorders and referral for specialized care.

Why this status: The 2025 action-plan report documents early-detection, referral-care and suicide-prevention programmes for schoolchildren, including reported delivery to beneficiaries. That is direct implementation of the promised pathway, though it does not yet establish a universal national mechanism.

Establish a service feedback unit to investigate complaints from patients and caregivers independently.

Why this status: The Ministry's Directorate of Healthcare Quality and Safety states that the ‘Friends of Health Services’ model is being implemented and that hospitals collect and review patient experience, satisfaction-survey and suggestion-box feedback. This is evidence of an active feedback mechanism, but not that an independent unit with a mandate to investigate all complaints has been established.

Establish daily treatment centers in every hospital.

Why this status: The official health policy commits to establishing daily treatment (day surgery) centres in every hospital. The policy demonstrates an active direction, not completed nationwide delivery.

Ensure every hospital-admitted patient has a bed and necessary facilities.

Why this status: The official health policy commits to ensuring every hospital-admitted patient has a bed and necessary facilities. This is a stated implementation direction, but the source does not establish that the standard has been achieved nationwide.

Establish facilities for mental, speech, auditory, occupational, and community physical therapy.

Why this status: The Ministry's January 2025 Divisional Hospital manual requires rehabilitation assessment and referral at all divisional hospitals and identifies selected hospitals for community-based rehabilitation and physiotherapy, including mental-health rehabilitation and home care for elderly people. This is a concrete service framework, but it does not establish all of the promised mental, speech, auditory, occupational and community-physical-therapy facilities nationwide.

Implement satellite clinics to provide specialized health services (including visits by specialist consultants) in family physician unit areas.

Why this status: The Health Ministry has announced telemedicine and phased expansion of specialist access through primary-health facilities, a credible route toward specialist outreach. The source is a plan and does not confirm satellite clinics with specialist consultant visits in family-physician areas, so it remains in progress.

Introduce specialized geriatric clinics in disease prevention institutions for elderly care.

Why this status: The Ministry's Primary Healthcare Reforms 2024 provide for one or two divisional hospitals in each district to be upgraded to Base Hospital C with a focus on geriatric services and separate geriatric/palliative beds. This is meaningful elderly-care expansion, but it is not the promised network of specialised geriatric clinics in disease-prevention institutions, and the source does not confirm nationwide completion.

Provide medical expenses coverage and appropriate allowances to employees who suffer work-related accidents until they return to their duties.

Why this status: The Labour Ministry's National Occupational Safety and Health Policy identifies the existing work-injury compensation system as inadequate and commits government to strengthen compensation and promote an employment-injury insurance scheme with stakeholders. This is a direct implementation commitment, but the source does not show a new scheme already providing the promised medical-expense coverage and income support until return to work.

Implement educational programs for citizens on fundamental laws (in Sinhala, Tamil, and English) and on information technology and the use of technological tools.

Why this status: The official adult-education policy repeats the trilingual fundamental-law and IT-literacy programme commitment. No nationwide delivery results are shown, so it remains in the works.

Provide facilities for students with disabilities in tertiary education institutions to enable them to receive education by recognized international standards.

Why this status: The UGC's 2025–2029 Strategic Plan explicitly provides for inclusive admissions, support frameworks, accessibility upgrades, and staged targets for universities to improve facilities for students with disabilities. This is direct and measurable implementation planning, but the target runs to 2029 and is not evidence that international-standard facilities are already in place throughout the tertiary system.

Implement an integrated mechanism to prevent sexual or other forms of harassment of youth in tertiary education institutions.

Why this status: The UGC's 2025–2029 plan commits to a university-wide zero-tolerance policy on ragging and other violence, strict complaint-handling guidelines, and better-resourced gender focal points. The UGC also operates an online complaints mechanism covering sexual harassment and gender-based violence. This is a concrete implementation path, though the published plan does not establish that the integrated mechanism has been fully implemented across all tertiary institutions.

Establish a strong structure within the school system to address sexual or other forms of violence faced by all communities.

Why this status: Cabinet approved an integrated multi-sector mechanism to protect children from abuse and violence, while the government reports strengthening school-based referral, counselling and safeguarding systems. This is substantial structural progress, though it does not prove a fully functioning response structure in every school.

Implement age-appropriate sexual and reproductive health education in the curriculum.

Why this status: The Health Ministry’s 2025/26 programme includes comprehensive sexuality education for 10–12-year-old schoolchildren and related public education. This is age-targeted implementation activity, but official evidence does not yet verify that it has been embedded throughout the national curriculum.

The independence of the judiciary will be fully guaranteed.

Why this status: Under way. Cabinet approved publication and submission to Parliament of proposed constitutional and Judicature Act amendments intended to strengthen judicial independence and reduce case backlogs. The amendments are not yet enacted, and the pledge's promise to fully guarantee independence is therefore not complete.

Gradually increase the representation of women to 50% in all decision-making bodies, from Parliament to local government institutions.

Why this status: Parliament reports 22 women MPs in the Tenth Parliament, up from 12 in the Ninth, but this is about 9.8% of 225 seats and remains far below the 50% target. Official policy continues to call for equal representation, so this is measurable progress without target delivery.