Cohort Profile: The Sri Lanka Health and Ageing Study (SLHAS)

Why was the cohort set up? Sri Lanka's population is ageing with the elderly share of its population rapidly increasing. The country is also experiencing rapid epidemiological transition, with its mortality pattern now dominated by non-communicable diseases (NCDs), more similar to Europe than the rest of its region, 1 and life expectancy of 77 years close to that of the USA (78 years).2 Access to health care services, at levels more comparable to high-income countries (HICs) than other developing countries, has contributed to these transitions, despite Sri Lanka still being a lower-middle-income country (LMIC) with inadequate social protection. © The Author(s) 2024;