Sri Lanka will be getting a concessionary yen facility worth 15.5 billion rupees from the government of Japan to boost specialist healthcare services for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) at rural hospitals and upgrade technology at biomedical and laboratory training facilities in the country.

The government is rolling out an initiative called the 'Health and Medical Service Improvement Project' to fight the increasing trend of NCDs.

The Japanese government will fund the project with a concessionary loan of 10.63 billion yen (approx. 15.5 billion rupees) through the Special Terms for Economic Partnership of the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

This project will expect to improve the diagnosis and treatment of NCDs, especially cardiovascular diseases by improving the medical facilities and equipment in tertiary hospitals in Anuradhapuura, Kandy, Kurunegala, Badulla and Trincomalee.

It will also upgrade technology at the bio medical engineering services provided by the Health Ministry and at medical laboratory training institutions. The project is scheduled for completion by 2023.