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Mission

The Institute for Health Policy is an independent, non-profit research institution that is committed to improving the health and welfare of the people in Sri Lanka and elsewhere through improving health and social policies, by supporting, encouraging and informing policy change, through objective research, analysis and training.

Vision

The vision of the Institute for Health Policy is to be a regional centre of excellence for health and social policy research, working on its own, in partnerships and with sponsors to achieve its objectives.

Values

Our work is governed by five key values:

Independence

We strive to ensure that our research and judgements are impartial, unbiased and influenced by no interests, be they political, commercial, sectarian or national. We will criticize and comment when necessary, but not for the sake of criticism alone. We welcome collaboration, partnerships, alliances and sponsorship in support of our underlying mission, but will never permit them to compromise our values and ultimate goals.

Relevance

We intend that our work should make a difference to the lives of people and society. We will not pursue research for the sake of research alone. We will aim to respond to current needs, but at the same time will always look ahead to identify and work on issues that are not a priority now but will be so in future. We will focus on areas, where our work can
add most value, and not seek to duplicate others, but subject to the responsibility to our stakeholders to ensure our long-term viability.

Quality

We aim to achieve global standards of excellence in the work we do. We do not benchmark our work against others in the country, but see our mission is to provide the quality of analysis and comment that would not be otherwise available to our national and regional stakeholders and partners. This involves constantly keeping abreast of debates and methods in the international community, challenging ourselves to attempt and adopt the latest approaches in our own work, never accepting that the best practice in the world is not relevant to us, and seeking to innovate wherever possible.

Integrity

We believe the way we do our work and conduct ourselves is central to our mission. This applies to our dealings with our staff, our partners, our clients and all stakeholders. We will be fair in our judgments, and when necessary we will not shy away from stating the truth. We will not intentionally mislead, make erroneous statements and findings or assert conclusions that are not warranted by the evidence. We will respect the confidentiality given our research partners, clients and sources.

Justice

Our work is motivated by a fundamental concern to create a fairer health system and health outcomes for all, both in Sri Lanka, regionally and globally. We will always be alert to policies and trends that subvert equity and social justice, and we will take special care to pay attention to the needs of the poor, vulnerable and marginalized.