Centenary of the first Health Unit, Kalutara

Kalutara Health Unit Office - 1926

- BY A.K SENEVIRATNE Former Senior Tutor Public Health NIHS, Kalutara

The centenary of the inaugural Health Unit (HU) established in Kalutara in 1926 will fall next year.

This pioneering institution was founded on the principles of disease prevention, maternal and child health and health education and holds the distinction of being the first Health Unit inaugurated in Southeast Asia. This endeavour was a collaborative initiative between the Rockefeller Foundation and the colonial government, aimed at delivering preventive healthcare.

Notably, it was Dr. WP. Jacocks, a public health physician from the International Health Division of the Rockefeller Foundation, alongside Dr. S.F Chellappah, who co-developed the Health Unit programme in Sri Lanka. Dr. Chellappah assumed the position of Chief Medical Officer of Health at the inaugural Health Unit. His motto— “Know your area, and know your People”—resonates profoundly within our community.

On July 01, 1926, when the first HU in Asia was inaugurated at Kalutara, Dr Jacocks said, “This day will be remembered by the health workers in Ceylon as the day on which a real step was taken in rural health along modern lines.” In 1966, the HU was expanded and named the Institute of Hygiene, and later in 1979 developed as the National Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS), which has now become Sri Lanka’s premier training centre of public health personnel.

The first Health Unit set up in 1926 has become a model for other regions now functioning in 354 Medical Officer of Health Divisions covering the entire country providing primary healthcare services to everyone at the community level.