Research
Mapping mental health finances in Ghana, Uganda, Sri Lanka, India and Lao PDR
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* Corresponding author: Victoria de Menil victoria.demenil@basicneeds.org
International Journal of Mental Health Systems 2010, 4:11 doi:10.1186/1752-4458-4-11
- Author Response to comment on the Methodology Used in Sri Lankan Data Collection
- A clarification of the methodology used in Sri Lankan data collection for the above study
A clarification of the methodology used in Sri Lankan data collection for the above study
Ruchira Kitsiri
(2011-05-26 23:58) Individual 
I would like to comment on methods used to gather Sri Lanka mental healthcare financing
information. As reported in the Sri Lanka section (page 6of 14- PDF version)of this
paper under the subheading 'Public Funding of Mental Health'.
The authors state...
"All quantitative data for Sri Lanka is taken from estimates relayed by government
key informants.
The researcher was not able to review actual government budgets to confirm these numbers.
According to key informants in the health ministry, the total national ring-fenced
budget for mental health in Sri Lanka in 2008/09 was $8,473,392. "
Clarification...
These statements are simply not true and I feel do not report the research methodology
correctly compromising the quality and the validity of the paper and the information
presented in it.
Only the data provided in the 'Table 1: Mental Health Funding for Preventing and Promotion
in Sri Lanka 2008/2009' were obtained from Key informant interviews.
Other data including 'government health budgets' and 'ring fenced budget for public
mental hospitals' of Sri Lanka that is compared with the other three countries and
Kerala state of India given in the 'Table 3: Mental Health Financing Data Cross Area
Results (USD)' were collected through secondary document reviewe of budget estimates
published by the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition of Sri Lanka.
The full Sri Lanka report is available at http://www.basicneeds.org/download/PUB%20-%20Financing%20Mental%20Health%20Care%20in%20Sri%20Lanka%20-%20BasicNeeds%20Sri%20Lanka%202009.pdf
Annex 5 of this report lists the budgetary and other documents that were reviewed
in order to obtain the information.
Competing interests
The commenter was the Research and Policy Coordinator of BasicNeeds Sri Lanka from February 2009 to January 2010 and the researcher and the author of the Sri Lanka study 'Financing Mental Healthcare in Sri Lanka 2009' - Policy study report of BasicNeeds Sri Lanka carried out by BasicNeeds Sri Lanka in 2009.
Author Response to comment on the Methodology Used in Sri Lankan Data Collection
Shoba Raja (2011-12-19 15:53) BasicNeeds
The article is not a comprehensive summary of all the country finance studies. We selected only certain pieces of data to report on. The reason for this is the space constraints of producing a synthesis and also the need for a single set of variables to compare across all the countries. The quantitative data used from the Sri Lanka study related to the overall mental health budget, which was taken from key informant estimates.
Competing interests
None declared
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