VISION The centre of excellence in training and development of public health staff in the South East Asia Region in the new Millennium MISSION Training and development of competent, independent and interdependent public health workforce for service delivery to gain MDG at National level National Institute of Health Sciences (NIHS) is the premier public health training institute of the Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka. The origin of the institution dates back to 1st July 1926, when the first Health Unit of South East Asian Region was opened in Kalutara. From the inception, the institution was responsible for training & development of health manpower for Primary Health Care (PHC) Program of the country. Since the early stages of establishment, NIHS has been involved in training of health manpower to regional countries as well. In addition to its primary mandate of training, NIHS is responsible to provide the primary health care services to the communities of field practice area which extend over 136 km2 with a population of about 300000. Staff of the field practice area plays a dual role of service provision and facilitation of hands on experience at field for different categories of trainees. The total staff exceeding 300 personnel of different categories is dedicated to the mission of our institute: that is to train and develop competent, independent and interdependent public health work force for service delivery to gain millennium development goals at national level.