Sri Lankan health service boost

The World Bank has approved a grant of $60m to help improve the public health sector in Sri Lanka.

The bank said the aid package was mainly aimed at improving access to health care, particularly in poor areas.

The World Bank's top official for Sri Lanka, Peter Harrold, said the country had established an extraordinarily good health service - and was one of the first developing countries to provide universal health care.

But Mr Harrold said there was a need to strengthen services for the economically vulnerable - and for people affected by 30 years of conflict in Sri Lanka.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service