China Sri Lanka Friendship Hospital

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa inaugurated the China-Sri Lanka Friendship Hospital in Polonnaruwa, built with a Chinese grant of $60 million.
The hospital, located in Sri Lanka’s North Central Province, will specialise in treating kidney ailments, a widely prevalent and recurring concern in the region, especially among farmers.
For years now, residents of this agriculture-intensive area have been frequently diagnosed with a kidney disorder that the country’s medical experts have identified as Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology (CKDu), a condition for which causal factors remain unknown.
The hospital, said to be one of the largest in South Asia for nephrology care, with a capacity of 200 beds, follows China’s earlier grant projects in Sri Lanka, also built as large public spaces, such as the well-known Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall in Colombo, that Beijing gifted in the 1970s, and the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre, that China-funded during former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s time in office.
In addition to sanctioning loans and a currency swap facility worth more than $2 billion since the pandemic struck last year, China also announced a $90 million grant to Sri Lanka in October last year, following a request from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, when a high-powered Chinese delegation visited the island nation.
Meanwhile, the Jaffna Cultural Centre, built with Indian assistance of $11.5 million, whose construction was completed a year ago, awaits inauguration as authorities “iron out” issues over the administrative set-up to run the Centre.
India’s grant assistance to Sri Lanka totals about $570 million.

Source: TH

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