There are doctors with private clinics in every town and village and as a sick tourist, you’ll be surprised how easy it is to get medical attention. You don’t need an appointment, just join others in the waiting room. The cost will be modest according to treatment. If you are staying in a top hotel, it might have a doctor on call.

There are many private hospitals accustomed to dealing with visitors.

Medical attention in Sri Lanka is swift and efficient, reassuring and inexpensive – in some cases, it’s even free.

Before we reveal details of the impressive health care in Sri Lanka, here’s an important piece of advice. Coming here for a holiday? Before setting out, get medical insurance coverage in your home country that’s valid for your stay in Sri Lanka.

Then if you do have medical attention and have to pay for it (private hospitals accept credit cards), collect and keep the bills so you can claim from your insurance company when you return home.

The good news is, according to the Health Ministry and Colombo General Hospital, medical treatment for tourists at public (state) hospitals is free.

However, this applies to emergency treatment so don’t plan to come here for a free heart bypass operation. (There are facilities for Medical Tourism in private hospitals here, but that’s not free.)

Since state hospital treatment is free for Sri Lankans and they take full advantage of it, you could find yourself in a crowded hospital waiting a long time for treatment. State hospital accommodation is basic, with some patients even sharing beds. The medical care, however, is top-notch.

Tourists can get admitted to state hospitals like locals, although passport details are required. For emergency admittance (such as being an accident victim) treatment will be carried out and the paperwork done afterwards.

A tourist requiring hospital treatment can be admitted to a state hospital, after review by the admitting medical officer.

Tourists being admitted to hospital should notify their family members, their tour operator and also their embassy or high commission in Colombo.

Even though medical attention and care at state hospitals services are free, patients may have to pay for medicines.

FREE AMBULANCE – 1990

Suwa Seriya, as it is called, is a Government-run, digitally-driven, free ambulance service serving the entire nation. Sponsored by India. In the past three years, the service has responded to 1.2 million calls, dealing with more than 780 cases a day. It has a fleet of 297 ambulances based at police stations throughout the country. Thanks to a carefully-planned network based on an ambulance for every 60,000 population within a radius of 25/35 kilometres and utilising GPS data, the response time from call to arrival averages 11.4 minutes.

The ambulance crews are trained in tactical driving as well as first aid and delivering babies. They don’t just respond to accidents but to any medical emergency (such as cardiac arrest) to which they are summoned.

The number to remember to save a life is 1990.

PHARMACIES

Most Western medicines are available, and so are many Indian substitutes. There are pharmacies available in every town. For minor ailments, such as a cold, the pharmacist will sell the remedy without a doctor’s prescription.

DENTIST

Emergency dental service is available at comparatively modest fees; the major private hospitals in Colombo have in-house dentists and can arrange treatment.

INOCULATIONS

Proof of immunisation from cholera, yellow fever, etc., is not normally required unless you have passed through an infected area within 14 days prior to your arrival

HOSPITALS

Private doctors and good private hospitals are to be found in Colombo and also near tourist areas.  Private hospitals are well-staffed and are generally competently run and comfortable, with good housekeeping. A deposit (by credit card is acceptable) is required on admittance to a private hospital.

MALARIA

Malaria exists in Sri Lanka but unless you are planning to visit the risk areas in the north, you are unlikely to be advised to take malaria tablets. However, bring mosquito repellent if you are sensitive to mosquito bites; mosquito nets can be provided in guest houses where mosquito coils will also be burned at night. Supermarkets stock coils, electric anti-mosquito mats and sprays.

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Anti-malaria tablets prescribed by your own doctor should be started about a week before you plan to arrive.