The health sector in the country has collapsed, while three infectious diseases which were eliminated from the country had started to re-emerge, former Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne said today.

He told Parliament that malaria, filariasis and measles have remerged out of the six infectious diseases which were eliminated from the country as declared by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

He said the crisis in the health sector would aggravate in days to come.

“We cannot focus only on economic recovery. The health sector is directly connected to people’s lives. If the health sector collapses, we cannot restore it by giving instant solutions within a day or two. We must take serious decisions right away,” he said.