Suwasariya celebrates three years of service

• It was a journey of many challenges, says 1990 Suwasariya Founder Dr. Harsha De Silva, 
  
   

The ambulance service that took Sri Lanka’s pre-hospital care service to a revolutionary path celebrated its third birthday on 27 July at the Suwasariya Headquarters in Rajagiriya under the patronage of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution Minister and Suwasariya Founder Dr. Harsha De Silva.

Yasiru Nelshan of Matara the first child born in a 1990 ambulance, also attended the event with his family. The occasion was also a grand celebration Yasiru’s third birthday.

Speaking at the occasion, Dr. Harsha De Silva said that during the past three years, Suwasariya was able to hospitalise 217,000 patients.

“If we look at this figure as an average, we have seen about 200 people hospitalised every day for the past three years. This number has risen to 700 per day now. 1990 is the most efficient government service in Sri Lanka. Wherever we are in Sri Lanka, we come to a patient in less than 12 minutes. The speed is even faster in urban areas where roads are better.”

“When we started the service we were faced with many challenges. I am very happy to see that we have overcome those challenges. Suwasariya is a service that works for the people. Before, only those with money could go to a hospital in an ambulance. Today everyone in Sri Lanka has that opportunity.”

Dr. de Silva thanked Dumindra Rathnayake, who voluntarily leads the wellness staff, the Board of Directors and all the staff.

Key Facts about the 1990 Ambulance Service

• Number of calls received – 1,209,299
• Number of times an ambulance went to a patient – 240,801
• Number of hospitalisations – 217,338
• Average time to visit a patient – 11 minutes and 53 seconds
• The service was first launched in the Southern and Western Provinces in July 2016, and later in other provinces and now covers the whole of Sri Lanka
• There are currently 297 ambulances operating across Sri Lanka
• 89 babies have been born in 1990 ambulances
• Launched with a $ 22.5 million grant gifted from the Government of India

At present it functions as a fully-owned owned subsidiary of the Government of Sri Lanka. The Suwasariya Foundation has been commissioned by a Parliamentary Act in 2018 and is now under the purview of the Ministry of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution. 1,600 youths in Sri Lanka have been provided with employment opportunities.