Healthcare in Colombo

Healthcare in Colombo

Sri Lanka runs a free state system alongside a large private sector, and Colombo has the densest concentration of both. State hospitals are free or near-free but cannot invoice an insurer. Private hospitals issue itemised bills you can claim against, and most expats use them for anything non-urgent.

Lanka Hospitals, Durdans Hospital, Nawaloka Hospitals and the Asiri group all run 24-hour accident and emergency departments with international patient desks. Durdans was the first hospital in the country to hold JCI accreditation. Lanka Hospitals is the only private facility with a helipad, which matters for transfers from outside the city.

Standalone laboratory chains run collection centres across the city, and several will send someone to your accommodation for a blood draw. Neither they nor the hospitals publish prices, so ask before you book.

Navigating care

Getting seen as a foreigner in Colombo

You channel a named consultant, not a clinic. Specialists hold private evening sessions at one or more hospitals, and you book the doctor rather than the hospital. There is no GP gatekeeping, so you self-refer straight to the specialty you need.

Book through the national channelling app rather than a hotline. It shows live consultant schedules across most private hospitals, takes card payment, and tracks when your doctor is expected to arrive.

Sessions start late, so check the app before you set off. Consultants come straight off a government hospital shift, and running an hour behind is normal. Ask for an early sequence number when you book.

Costs

What healthcare costs in Colombo

A private outpatient bill is a sum of parts, not a single price. The consultant sets their own professional fee, the hospital adds its own charge, and a booking platform adds a service charge. Government hospital tariffs are published and verifiable; private facilities run materially higher.

Private hospitals bill the consultant fee, hospital charge and booking fee as separate lines.

Pharmacies

Medicines are classified into general sale, over-the-counter and prescription-only categories, and retail prices are capped nationally. Generics dominate and are usually Indian-made, so expect a substitution when you refill. Bring your own supply of anything you depend on, because a specific brand may not be stocked. The state pharmacy chain is the cheapest reliable channel, and its original Colombo branch opens 24 hours a day, all year. Private chains keep normal shop hours, so the overnight route is the pharmacy attached to a 24-hour emergency department.

Health tips

Common visitor health risks in Colombo

Emergency

Emergency number: 1990

1990 is the free national ambulance, answered in Sinhala, Tamil and English around the clock.

English is widely spoken in private care

Consultants and private hospital staff work in English. Outside Colombo, state hospital wards are often Sinhala or Tamil only.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. [1] 1990 Suwa Seriya Foundation, About Us
2. [2] UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Sri Lanka travel advice: Health
3. [3] Sri Jayewardenepura General Hospital (Ministry of Health), Pricing
4. [4] The Morning, Private hospitals: crippling costs hit patients and families
5. [5] The Morning, Health sector: diagnostics in crisis with breakdowns
6. [6] LankaWeb, Many Sri Lankan private hospitals (channelling fee breakdown)
7. [7] National Dengue Control Unit, Current status of dengue in Sri Lanka
8. [8] Newswire, Dengue cases in Sri Lanka surge past 79,000 in 2026
9. [9] Durdans Hospital, International Patient Care
10. [10] Asiri Health, International Patients
11. [11] Lanka Hospitals, Channel a Doctor
12. [12] eChannelling Sri Lanka, FAQ
13. [13] Ceymed Healthcare Services, standalone laboratory network
14. [14] National Medicines Regulatory Authority, Regulatory (medicine schedules)
15. [15] Air Quality Sri Lanka, Colombo air quality monthly update
16. [16] Fact Crescendo Sri Lanka, Is water in Colombo not suitable for consumption?
17. [17] PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Twelve years of rabies surveillance in Sri Lanka
18. [18] EconomyNext, Sri Lanka to bar foreigners from free state healthcare

Country guide

• CountryHealthcare in Sri Lanka