Work begins in Sri Lanka for Chinese funded kidney hospital

By APD writer Easwaran

COLOMBO, Dec. 6 (APD) -- Work on a kidney hospital being constructed with Chinese funding began in Polonnaruwa in Sri Lanka’s north central region on Wednesday.

China is funding the construction of the specialised hospital to treat patients with kidney disease which recently affected rice farmers in Polonnaruwa.

The foundation stone for the hospital was placed by President Maithripala Sirisena in the presence of the Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka and other invitees.

Sri Lanka and China had earlier signed the Memorandum of Understanding to build the hospital for kidney patients under a donation from the Government of China.

The Chinese funding for the kidney hospital is a result of discussions held between Sirisena and Chinese President Xi Jinping during Sirisena’s official visit to China in 2015.

The hospital will consist of 200 beds and another 100 dialysis beds.

The construction work of the hospital will commence before the end of this year.

At present, around 6,500 kidney patients from the Polonnaruwa district and another 13,000 kidney patients from the Anuradhapura district undergo dialysis or require facilities for dialysis.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)