Primary health care (PHC) is the very first health care contact point of older people and their informal caregivers. This is why, as reflected in the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing’s plan of action, strengthening PHC is a crucial element of improving the lives of older people, their families, and communities.
As Public Health Specialist at the Ministry of Health in Sri Lanka and Technical Lead and National Programme Manager for the care of older people, Shiromi Maduwage has worked to reform and strengthen PHC for the benefit of older people in Sri Lanka. Based on the World Health Organization’s Intergrated Care for Older People framework, Shiromi Maduwage organised and implemented training and capacity building sessions for physicians, nurses, and front-line health workers at institutional and field level.
Furthermore, as the technical lead for developing health care policy for older people in Sri Lanka, Shiromi Maduwage advanced the establishment of a multidisciplinary action plan and results-based framework for older people’s health in Sri Lanka. All key areas of the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing were incorporated into these documents with a mandate of implementation. Drawing on 22 years of experience in caring for older people, Shiromi Maduwage is proud to continue sharing her experience and contributions both locally and internationally to improve quality of service for older persons in many ways including capacity building of different categories of service providers, older people and informal caregivers.