Sri Lanka has one of the highest life expectancy rates in South Asia, with females living upto 80 years, much higher than the global average.
By Fatima Majid
If there is such a thing as a health success story, Sri Lanka would be a strong contender. The small island-nation with a geographical area that constitutes less than 2% of Asia’s landmass, and a population merely 0.27% of the world’s population has recorded a considerable increase in Life Expectancy since the 1950’s.
The average Sri Lankan is expected to live upto 77 years – four more years than the global average. Women live upto 80 years – 3% more than male life expectancy.
As shown in the graph below, Sri Lanka’s Life Expectancy has always been above the global average starting in 1960 when the average Sri Lankan lived almost 10 years longer than the average person from across the world.
This gap has reduced with more countries successfully lowering their mortality rate in the period between 1960 and 1990.
Male life expectancy in Sri Lanka dropped considerably in the 1980s and 1990s, but has made progress since the 2000s with greater investments in health, poverty reduction and immunization, made possible by greater political stability in the country. In 2011, the Sri Lankan government introduced nutrition and lifestyle counselling with its already strong public health facilities.
Nearly all Sri Lankans are covered by public health care services, and Life Expectancy at birth has increased by close to 10 years since the 1990s.
The challenges that Sri Lanka faces today mirror those of developed countries – an aging population and a high prevalence of non-communicable diseases. In partnership with the World Bank, the Sri Lankan government will establish 4000 clinics, 890 primary health care facilities and a greater supply of drugs to treat non-communicable diseases.
Despite these challenges, it is projected that life expectancy will increase by 4 years in the next two decades.
The more the government spends on Health, the longer people live
The Sri Lankan government’s prioritization of Health makes it stand out from its South Asian neighbours.
Sri Lanka has the second-highest Life Expectancy in Asia, after the Maldives, and both these countries spend considerably more on Health than other South Asian countries.
Sri Lanka’s Health expenditure rate increased from 44 USD to 157 USD over a period of 20 years, resulting in a strong public health system that meets 50% of medical treatment needs, 95% of hospitalizations and 99% of preventive care needs.
COVID-19 has seen governments pivot a larger share of their spending to Health. India, for example, allocated 38% more towards strengthening public health systems.
Will this increase Life Expectancy? Only if they are allocated beyond temporarily managing the COVID-19 pandemic towards building health care facilities and training health care workers.
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