SLMAnews-2012-11

President’s Note

Contents

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Prof. Vajira H.W. DissanayakePresident,Sri Lanka Medical Assosiation,No.06, Wijerama Mawatha,Colombo 07, Sri Lanka

Dear SLMA members, colleagues, friends

November was a busy month for SLMA. The foun-dation sessions were successfully completed with the much awaited SLMA awards ceremony, the EM Wijerama Endowment Lecture and the Sir Marcus Fernando Oration adding colour to the event.

The highlight of this year’s November however was the 12th FERCAP International Conference. This is the first time that the SLMA has hosted such an international congress. The success of the conference augurs well for the SLMA as we plan to increase our international presence with mem-bership in the World Medical Association (WMA), Commonwealth Medical Association (CMA) and Confederation of Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania (CMAOO).

We look forward to your presence at the final grand event for the year, the Medical Dance on 8 December 2012.

Thank you. On behalf of the council of the SLMA,

Page No.

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November 2012 Volume 05 Issue 11

SLMANEWSTHE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE SRI LANKA MEDICAL ASSOCIATION

SLMA Research Prizes and Awards 2012 4

Second Annual Scientific Sessions of the Wathupitiwala Clinical Society 8

Society, Medicine and Politics 10

Anuradhapura Clinical Society 6th Annual

Scientific Sessions 16

Award of Honorary Life Memberships 18

12th FERCAP International Conference and General Assembly 20-21

Sri Lankan Speakers at the 12th FERCAP International Conference 22

Symposium on Collaboration, Ethics and Research Culture at the 12th FERCAP International Conference 23

Comments from International Participants at the 12th FERCAP International Conference 24

Highlights of the 12th FERCAP International Conference 25

SLMA Awards for Excellence in Health Journalism 26

Prof. Wilfred S. E. Perera Travel Award in Bioethics 27

SIDCER Recognition Ceremony at the 12th FERCAP General Assembly 28

Past Presidents of SLMA 29

ii

November, 2012 SLMANEWS

4

SLMA Research Prizes and Awards 2012

Awards for Papers at the 125th Anniversary International Medical Congress 2012

E M Wijerama Prize

OP 17: The prevalence, patterns and correlates of diabetic peripheral neuropa-thy in Sri Lanka

P Ranasinghe1, R Jayawardena2, G R Con-stantine3, R Sheriff 3, P Katulanda3

1Department of Pharma-cology, Faculty of Medi-cine, University of Colombo

2School of Human Move-ment Studies, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland Universities, Australia

3Diabetes Research Unit, Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medi-cine, University of Colombo

S E Seneviratna Prize

OP 2: Live donor renal transplantation in Sri Lanka - factors affecting overall outcome

N Gunawansa, M Wijer-athne, R Cassim, R Dis-sanayake, J Arudchelvam, N Senevirathne

National Hospital of Sri Lanka, Colombo

H K T Fernando Prize

OP 34: Molecular diagnosis of Williams Buren syndrome in a cohort of Sri Lankan patients

DM Ranaweera1, D de Silva2, D Samarasinghe3, S Perera3, N Rajapaksha2, N V Chandrasekharan4

1Post Graduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo

2Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya

3Lady Ridgway Hospital for Children, Colombo

4Department of Chem-istry, Faculty of Science, University of Colombo

Sir Nicholas Attygalle Prize

OP 63: Waist-to-height ratio has the best anthropometric association with cardio-metabolic disease among Sri Lankan adults

P Ranasinghe1, R Jayawardena2, WRUAS Wijesundara3, WMUA Wije-tunga3, TAD Tilakaratne3, S Subasinghe3, P Katulanda3

1Department of Pharma-cology, Faculty of Medi-cine, University of Colombo

2School of Human Move-ment Studies, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University, Australia

3Diabetes Research Unit, Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medi-cine, University of Colombo

Contd. on page 6

Head table at the Inauguration of the Foundation Sessions. (From left) SLMA Secretary, Dr. Lasantha Mala-vige SLMA President, Prof. Vajira H. W. Dissanayake, Chief Guest and EM Wijerama Endowment Lecturer, SLMA immediate Past President Prof. S. P. Lamabadusuriya

SLMA

Research

Prizes and

Awards were

awarded at the

Inauguration of

the Foundation

Sessions on

9 November

2012. Amongst

them were

awards for

papers at the

125th

Anniversary

International

Medical

Congress and

general awards

made every

year.

3


6

Wilson Peiris Prize

OP 28: Knowledge, attitudes and size of the carbon footprint among medical students

CI Wijesinghe1, M Sel-varajah1, D Wijesundara1, S Ranawaka1, T Chang2

1Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo

2Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medi-cine, University of Colombo

Daphne Attygalle Prize for the Best Paper in Cancer

OP 37: A novel approach to understand carcinogenesis in oral submucous fibrosis

P Illeperuma1, YJ Park1, WM Tilakaratne2, J Kim3, RP Illeperuma3

1Oral Cancer Research Institute, Yonsei University College of Dentistry, Seoul, Korea

2Department of Oral Pa-thology, Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Peradeniya

3Modern Medicine Unit, Institute of Inediginous

Medicine, University of Colombo

Sir Frank Gunasekera Prize for the Best Paper in Community Medicine and Tuberculosis

PP 42: Geographical varia-tions of goitre prevalence in Sri Lanka: visualisation with geographic information systems

R Fernando, A Pathmeswaran, S Nandas-ena

Faculty of Medicine, Uni-versity of Kelaniya

Kumaradasa Rajasuriya Prize for the Best Paper in Tropical Medicine

PP 169: Snakebites in children- a five year retro-spective review of victims admitted to two hospitals in Sri Lanka

YC Jayasinghe, A Kas-turiratne, SASG Sama-raweera, HJ de Silva

Faculty of Medicine, Uni-versity of Kelaniya

Special Prize in Cardiology

OP 68: GSTM2 C terminal domain alters the contractil-

ity and Ca2+ transients in cultured ventricular cardio-myocytes

R P Hewawasam Department of Biochem-

istry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna

S Ramachandran Prize for the Best Paper in Nephrology

OP 5: Histopathological changes in liver and renal tissues in Wistar rats given bore well water from CKDu endemic areas in North Cen-tral Province

MG Thammitiyagodage1, C Rathnayake1, MM Guna-tillaka1, N Ekanayake1, R Jayatissa1, UKSC Gunara-thne2, WMMU Jayathilake1

1Medical Research Insti-tute

2Regional Epidemiology Unit, Polonnaruwa

Slma Prize for the Best Poster

PP 20: Epidemiology of stroke in the district of Co-lombo, Sri Lanka: a commu-nity-based study

T Chang1, S Gajasinghe2, C Arambepola3

1Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Colombo

2Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo

3Department of Commu-nity Medicine, University of Colombo

General Awards

The CNAPT Award In Memory Of Richard and Sheila Peiris for the Best Publication in Medicine or in an Allied Field in the Year 2011

Awarded to the book on “Landscape analysis to ac-celerate actions to reduce maternal and child under nutrition in Sri Lanka” by

Dr. Renuka Jayatissa and Prof. Dulitha N Fernando

Glaxo Wellcome Research Grant

Awarded to Dr. Inoshi Atukorala, Senior Lec-turer Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medi-cine, Colombo to conduct the study on “Prevalence of early rheumatoid arthritis in a semi urban area in Sri Lanka”

SLMA Research...Contd.from page 4

Winners of SLMA research prizes and awards with the Chief Guest, SLMA President and SLMA Secretary. (From left) P Illeperuma, DM Ranaweeera, YC Jayasinghe, R P Hewawaam, Renuka Jayatissa, R Fernando, MG Thammitiyagodage, N Gunawansa, T Chang


8

This was a very successful joint venture between Wathupitiwala

Clinical Society and the Sri Lanka Medical Associa-tion. This Annual Scien-tific Sessions was held on 6th October 2012 at Hotel Hot Edge, Nittabuwa with a great atmosphere with wonderful participa-tion from all the hospitals nearby, preventive sector, and general practitioners.

The theme of this year’s sessions was “Better Care at Periphery”.

There was wide range of lectures covering all spe-cialities from very eminent clinicians. The symposium on Initial Management of Trauma organized by Consultant Anaesthetist, Dr Tharanga Perera was one of the highlights of the session.

It was encouraging to see the backing given by the regional administrators with participation of Pro-vincial Director of Health Services, Dr Amal Harsha De Silva, Deputy Provincial Director of Health Services Dr.A.L.A.L.Pathmasiri, and Medical Superintendent Base Hosptial Wathupiti-wala Dr Sisira Wijesun-dera.

The SLMA was repre-sented by Prof. Vajira H. W. Dissanayke (President, SLMA) and Dr Lasantha

Malawige (Secretary, SLMA). Other senior mem-bers of the SLMA, such as Dr Malik Fernando, who participated in this meet-ing, brighten the occasion.

Dr Philip Veerasingham the Senior Consultant Sur-geon declared opening the Web site for Wathupitiwala Clinical Society. http://clini-calsocietywathupitiwala.com/index.html

He said that the Wathu-pitiwala Clinical Society would be one of the first peripheral clinical societies to open a web site and that he is so happy to see the use of advance IT technol-ogies by Doctors for better care of patients.

The function was brought a live by some social events too. During the tea break there was a short Drama Directed by Wathupitiwala Base Hospital Consultant Physi-cian Dr Thusith Gunawar-dena with Doctors of Base Hospital Wathupitiwala acting. Lunch was pro-ceeded by a Traditional Cocktail (Kithul Toddy with Manioc and Katta Sambal) brought tears to the senior members with nostalgic memories of Joint Clinical Meetings years back.

The meeting concluded with expectations of an even better Clinical Meet-ing in 2013.

Second Annual Scientific Sessions of the Wathupitiwala Clinical Society

Section of the Audience

Special Invitees Lighting the Oil Lamp

WCS President Dr MAK Perera Delivering the Welcome Address


10

It is indeed a great privilege as well as a pleasure for me to speak at this important

international conference on public health, which is being hosted by the Faculty of Medicine that I studied in, but it then belonged to the single University of Ceylon of that time. This is where Professor Senaka Bibile, my teacher, friend and Socialist Party (LSSP) colleague, developed his Drug Policy, that WHO has adopted as a model for all developing countries.

Let me first, on behalf of the President and the Government, welcome you warmly to our beauti-ful island nation. We are now at peace after over 30 years of conflict and war. We have now to cope with its legacy – the problems of physical and mental

trauma and the economic and social consequences to the affected people, the gun culture and underworld violence that it spawned, and even Big Power bully-ing, which is the reward for eliminating terrorism. I am a member of the National Polio Eradication Commit-tee, and just as we en-sured that every child was immunized in the country, including those in the LTTE occupied areas, during the war, our Government will overcome the legacy of the war.

As a poor country, that has become a low middle income country only in the last few years, we have achieved much in terms of health indices (low mater-nal and infant mortality, life expectancy). At this conference I would like to pay a tribute to all those in

the public health field who helped to achieve this and to take the programme effectively to the village level. But we have to thank many others in different fields outside the health sec-tor as well. The politi-cians of the past who struggled to achieve the free health service and the free education ser-vice in a welfare state that has contributed so much to such an out-come. The fact that our country got universal adult franchise in 1931, before any other British colony, helped, and the Socialist Party formed in 1935 made the de-mands with justification, and in order to get the votes, others rushed to implement those poli-cies.

Society, Medicine and Politics

Professor Tissa Vitarana delivering the speech

Contd. on page 12

During my long career as

a doctor, researcher and then a politician I

have come to appreciate the truth of

what the famous German pathologist,

Rudolf Virchow said in 1948, “Medicine is a so-cial science and politics

is nothing more than medicine on a larger scale.” In the field of

medicine public health is the most important. The emphasis today

however is different.

Text of the address made by Senior Minister of Scientific Affairs Hon Prof. Tissa Vitharana at the Inauguration of the 44th International Conference of the Asia Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health


12

But these positive fac-tors may lead to nega-tive outcomes resulting in newly emerging health problems. Having educated youth with aspirations that the level of development of the economy could not satisfy led to two youth uprisings in the South, and contributed to the conflict and war in the North.

This calls for rapid economic development to prevent any recur-rence of such tragedies. With the increase in the old age category, the need has arisen for homes and home visi-tors for the elderly.

This is in addition to the increase of world-wide problems like drug resistance due to indiscriminate use of antibacterial medicines, and diet and lifestyle as-

sociated problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity.

During my long career as a doctor and re-searcher (I was Director of the Medical Research Institute and Profes-sor of Microbiology) and then a politician (Minister of Science and Technology) I have come to appreciate the truth of what the famous German pathologist, Rudolf Virchow said in 1948, "Medicine is a so-cial science and politics is nothing more than medicine on a larger scale." In the field of medicine public health is the most important. The emphasis today however is different. The public health sys-tem earlier was focused more on the control of infectious diseases so as to improve maternal

and child survival. But today the health burden in Sri Lanka and the region has transformed dramatically – more non-communicable dis-ease, lifestyle and diet as well as stress and drug related problems, trauma and post-disas-ter problems in addi-tion to newly emerging infections and drug resistance.

It is clear that these challenges require a co-ordinated thrust in sev-eral sectors. Gone are the days when a Minis-try of Health could stand alone and face such a multiplicity of health problems. Governments have to consider health as a rallying point for all its policies. We have to shift from the concept of Public Health policies to the concept of Healthy Public policies.

Society, Medicine...Contd.from page 10

Pathways for the global public health community are clearer. We have to improve governance for health and development with participatory policymaking. The health sector should be further oriented towards promoting health and reducing health inequities, with monitoring of progress and accountability. A government has to consider Health as a rallying point for all its policies. This brings in the centrality of politics and the whole of government policymaking to promote health.

Contd. on page 14


14

Therefore we need to take a direction from initiatives emerging from the 1978 Alma Ata Dec-laration right up to the most recent Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2012. In the latter instance member states have reiterated that inequities within and between countries are politically, socially and economically unaccept-able, unfair and largely avoidable.

We are committed to take action on social determinants of health as collectively agreed by the World Health Assembly and reflected in resolution WHA 62.14 that hopes to "Re-duce health inequities through action on the social determinants of health".

The pathways for the global public health community are clearer. We have to improve governance for health and development with participatory policymak-ing. The health sector should be further ori-ented towards promot-ing health and reducing health inequities, with monitoring of progress and accountability. A government has to consider Health as a rallying point for all its policies. This brings in the centrality of politics and the whole of gov-

ernment policymaking to promote health.

Multi-Sectoral Ap-proach – This calls for a multi-sectoral approach. As Senior Minister of Scientific Affairs I have been given the mandate to coordinate and moni-tor the scientific and science related activi-ties of all line ministries, and scientific institutions within those ministries. Thus with regard to the health sector it will be possible to set up virtual institutions to achieve a multi-sectoral approach to tackling health related problems. There is a need to do adequate and appropriate multi-sectoral research in relation to emerging health problems. To give an example, one of the serious problems relates to chronic kidney disease of unknown aetiology (CKDU) that is widely prevalent in

the North Central and Uva Provinces of this country. A multi-center study is underway coor-dinated by WHO. There are several suspected causative factors identi-fied such as arsenic and cadmium in associate with a possible role for fluoride and hard water. The National Science Foundation, when I was the Minister of Technol-ogy and Research, did some initial coordina-tion and provided 70 per cent of the required funds for the study. But what is emerging from the study is that there is a definite causal relationship to the use of toxic factors related to the use of chemi-cals in agriculture. The preliminary findings are soon to be published in an international peer reviewed journal.


There is a need to do adequate and

appropriate multi-sectoral

research in relation to emerging health

problems. To give an example, one of the

serious problems relates to chronic

kidney disease of unknown aetiology (CKDU) that is widely prevalent in the North

Central and Uva Provinces of this

country. A multi-center study is underway

coordinated by WHO.Contd. on page 34


16

6th Annual Scientific ses-sions of the Anuradhapura Clinical Society (ACS) was held in the sacred city

of Anuradhapura form 16th-18th October 2012, which was a huge success with a participation of more than 450 delegates and around 40 resource persons.

Events began on 16th October with 2, half day workshops for nurs-ing officers at TH Anuradhapura on “Advanced cardiac life support “which was well attended. These workshops were aimed not only to give an opportunity to learn recent advances but also to recognize the services provided by the allied health staff in improving the patient care.

The “Research Ethics work shop” was held at Faculty of Medicine Rajarata university on 17th October was attended by 40 researches from the area. This was jointly conducted by the Forum for Ethics Review Committees in Sri Lanka and the Ethics Review Committee, of the Faculty of Medical and Allied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka. On the same day the pre congress sessions jointly organized with the Sri Lanka Heart Associa-tion (SLHA) was held at the Nurses Training School auditorium with more than 200 doctors from the North Central, Northern and East-ern provinces participating. This event was a huge success with 12 cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons as resource persons cov-ering wide range of topics related to day to day clinical practice. This was the first time in the history of ACS that an event of this caliber was organized and executed with overwhelming success.

Academic procession enters the hall

Special guests at the inauguration. SLMA Secretary, Dr Lasantha Malavige, SLMA president Prof. Vajira Dissanayake, ACS President, Dr Darshana Sirisena Chief Guest Hon. H.B. Semas-

inghe .

Section of the AudienceContd. on page 34

Anuradhapura Clinical Society 6th Annual Scientific Sessions


18

The Council of the Associa-tion on the recommendation of the Honours Committee, decided to honour two out-

standing members of the Association for the service rendered to the As-sociation and the Medical Profession by conferring Honorary Life Member-ships. This decision was ratified by the members of the Association at a General Meeting of the Association held on 2 November 2012.

The awards were conferred by the SLMA President, Prof. Vajira H. W. Dissanayake, at the Inauguration of the Foundation Sessions of the SLMA on 9 November 2012. The two recipients were Prof. Priyani E Soysa and Dr C. G. Uragoda. The citations were read by Dr. BJC Perera, Presi-dent Elect.

The two Citations, which document the lifetime contribution made by these illustrious medical personalities to the Association and the Medical Profession is produced below:

Professor Priyani E SoysaChief Guest Professor Sanath

Lamabadusuriya, President and the Council of the Sri Lanka Medical Association, Past-Presidents, Honor-ary Life Members, Life Members and Members of the Sri Lanka Medical Association, distinguished invitees,

I have the singular honour to present to you Professor Priyani Elizabeth Soysa, MBBS (Ceylon), DCH(England), MD (Ceylon), D.Sc (Ruhuna) Honoris causa, FRCP Edin-burgh, FRCP London, FRCPCH, UK, FCCP (SL), FSLCPaed, FCGP(SL), Fellow of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science and Emeritus Professor of Paediatrics of the University of Colombo.

Born to Millen and Beatrice De Mel in Moratuwa, Priyani had her entire primary and secondary education at Princess of Wales College. She ex-celled at all examinations and sailed through junior and senior Cambridge together with London Matriculation, all with distinctions and in the first di-vision. She was a School Prefect and

the Sports Captain, excelling in Ten-nis, Netball and Athletics. She was the Schools’ Athletic Champion for two successive years. Her sporting prowess continued into her university life in the Colombo Medical Faculty and she participated in Netball, Ten-nis and inter-faculty sports meets.

She passed the MBBS examination with First Class Honours with distinc-tions in Medicine, Obstetrics, Gynae-cology and Pharmacology and subse-quently obtained her other numerous qualifications. She is the first woman to obtain the MD Ceylon and the very first Lady academic to be appointed into a Professorial Chair in the Sri Lankan University system. Prior to her appointment as the Professor of Paediatrics in 1966, she served the Sri Lankan National Health Service as a Consultant Paediatrician in Jaffna, Ratnapura and Kurunegala.

She has been honoured with in-numerable awards including Senior Commonwealth Fellowship, Visiting Professorship Australian College of Paediatrics, Guest Scientist FAO

Award of Honorary Life Memberships

Honorary Life Membership of the Association is awarded to honour distinguished personalities who have contributed to the Association and the Profession.

SLMA President, Prof. Vajira H. W. Dissanayake presenting the Honorary Life Membership Plaque to Prof. Priyani E Soysa

SLMANEWS November, 2012

19

Bangkok, Zonta Woman of Achieve-ment for Medicine, Highest popularity award for medical & law profession-als by Vanitha Viththi, Vijaya Publica-tions, Most distinguished woman doc-tor SLMA and University of Colombo Alumni Association distinguished academician. She was the Centenary Orator of the Sri Lanka Medical As-sociation in 1997.

She has contributed immensely in the international arena through very many positions as a Consultant and Advisor to the World Health Organ-isation, United Nations and The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.

She has held the positions of the Presidency of The Sri Lanka Paediat-ric Association, Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science, Sri Lanka Medical Association, Nutri-tion Society of Sri Lanka, Ceylon College of Physicians, Crippled Children’s Association of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Women in Public Health Network, Medical Women’s Associa-tion together with Membership of the Advisory Board, Christian Children’s Fund and the Vice Presidency of the Commonwealth Medical Associa-tion for Central Asia. She has been a Member, Board of management Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, Postgraduate Institute of Science, Council Member of the Council of Ag-ricultural Research of the Sri Lanka Standards Institute and Commis-sioner, Presidential Commission on Non-governmental Organisations.

Currently, she is the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of SLMA, Chairperson of the National Health Research Council, Board Member for the Centre for Women’s Research and Chairperson of the National Committee for Certification of Eradi-cation of Poliomyelitis. Professor Soysa is an unparalleled academic with over 100 publications in Peer Reviewed Journals, on many diverse topics. Widely known for her pioneering research in Nutrition and Infectious Diseases, she was also

instrumental in imposing regula-tions restricting advertising of infant formula milk, and formulating the na-tional policy on breast feeding, which recommended Exclusive Breast Feeding for 4-6 months. She fought valiantly and managed to secure the current maternity leave benefits to breast feeding mothers.

Young Priyani De Mel married Dr Ananda Soysa of ENT fame in 1951 and for both of them it has been a blissful family life for the last 61 years. They have four daughters about whom we learnt a great deal during our studentship with their mother. It was also such a delight to meet those four ladies personally for the very first time a few years back at a felicitation ceremony for Profes-sor Soysa and I was able to proudly declare that I knew all about them.

In every era, there are people who stand out, head and shoulders above the rest, for their contribution to humanity. These are the people who have wonderful visions and dreams for the future and strive steadfastly and tirelessly to fulfil them. Professor Priyani Soysa is one such personal-ity. She is undoubtedly a renowned and fearless campaigner, a fabulous torch bearer and the most famous Trail Blazer for Paediatrics in Sri Lanka. Her life and work will resonate throughout the corridors of time and will be indelibly written in gold for posterity.

I consider it an exceptional dis-pensation to have been afforded the priceless opportunity of learning the basics of Paediatrics at the feet of such a great teacher.I still remember many a thing that she has taught me and most impor-tantly the lessons she taught, mainly by example, on certain moral and ethical values in life. I still continue to learn so very much from her. She has indeed been a superlative role model for all paediatricians in general and a God-mother to me in particular.

Mr President, Ladies and Gentle-men, I am singularly privileged and

greatly delighted, to present to you, Professor Priyani Elizabeth Soysa for the award of the coveted title of Hon-orary Life Member of The Sri Lanka Medical Association.

Dr C G UragodaChief Guest Professor Sanath

Lamabadusuriya, President and the Council of the Sri Lanka Medical Association, Past-Presidents, Honor-ary Life Members, Life Members and Members of the Sri Lanka Medical Association, distinguished invitees..,

I have the superlative assignment of presenting to you, Dr Christopher Gunapala Uragoda, MBBS, MD, DSc – Colombo – Honoris causa, Fel-low of the Ceylon College of Physi-cians, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of -London, Fellow of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of London, Fellow of the American Col-lege of Chest Physicians and Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka for the award of Honor-ary Life Membership of The Sri Lanka Medical Association. Dr Uragoda was Physician in charge, Central Chest Clinic, Colombo from 1973 to 1988 and Physician, Chest Hospital, Welisera from 1988 to 1994. He has been a member ofthe SLMA since 1968, Joint Editor of the Ceylon Medical Journal for 20 years, and now it’s much valued Editor Emeritus. He was also Editor of the Journal of Ceylon College of Physicians and The Journal of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr Uragoda has held the Presi-dency of the Sri Lanka Medical As-sociation, Sri Lanka Medical Council, Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, Ceylon College of Physicians, Kandy Clinical Society and been the Chair-man of the Ceylon National Associa-tion for the Prevention of Tubersulosis – CNAPT, for ten fruitful years. He was a member of the World Health Organisation Expert Panel on Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis for 20 long years.

Contd. on page 30

20


The Sri Lanka Medical Associa-tion, University of Colombo and the

National Science Founda-tion has taken the leadership in promoting protection of patients taking part in Medi-cal Research in Sri Lanka by jointly hosting the 12th Forum for Ethical Review Committees in Asia and the Western Pacific (FERCAP) International Conference at Waters Edge, Colombo from 18 to 21 January 2012. Over

400 delegates from 104 of the leading Hospitals and Medical Universities in the Asia Pacific region meet to discuss how patient protec-tion can be done in a manner that promotes development and advancement of medi-cal sciences while taking into account social and cultural values of people of different backgrounds living in differ-ent parts of the world under the theme – Development, Ethnicity, Culture, and Ethical Health Research.

The SLMA President Prof. Vajira H. W. Dissanayake, who was instrumental in ensuring that Sri Lanka won the right to host the confer-ence, commenting on the conference, said that it is a great honour for Sri Lanka to host this conference given the long tradition of medicine in Sri Lanka.

According to the Maha-vamsa, the ancient chronicle of Sinhalese royalty, written in the sixth century A.D., King Pandukabhaya of Sri Lanka (reigned 437 BC to 367 BC) had lying-in-homes and hospitals (Sivikasotthi-Sala)

built in various parts of the country. This is the earliest documentary evidence we have of institutions specifi-cally dedicated to the care of the sick anywhere in the world. The hospital built by King Sena II (852- 887 AC), in Mihintale, Sri Lanka is the oldest in the world. Ruins of ancient hospitals in Sri Lanka are still in existence in Mihintale, Anuradhapura, and Medirigiriya in the North Cen-tral Province of Sri Lanka. Prof. Arjuna Aluwihara of the University of Peradeniya will be making a keynote presentation on “Contex-

tual Lessons from Surgical Archaeology” highlighting the implications of the knowledge of our forefathers on modern medical research.

Ruins of the Ancient Hospi-tal at Mihintale

Surgical instruments found at an ancient hospital site in Sri Lanka

Given this background the Chairperson of FER-CAP Prof. Kenji Hiriyam of Japan said that Sri Lanka is the most appropriate place to host this conference on the theme “Development, Development, Ethnicity, Culture and Ethical Health

12th FERCAP International Conference and General Assembly

Over 400 delegates from 108 leading Hospitals and Medical Universities in the Asia Pacific Region met at the 12th FERCAP International Conference and General Assembly.

Development, Ethnicity, Culture and Ethical Health Research

21


Research”. Sri Lanka’s Pioneering

Contribution to Medicine in the Modern Era comes in the form of the Faculty of Medi-cine, University of Colombo, established in 1870. It is considered the undisputed matriarch of medical edu-cation in Sri Lanka. It has been a leader in medical training and research not only in this country but also in Asia. At 142 years, it is one of the oldest medical schools anywhere in Asia and Australasia. The Ethics Review Committee of the Faculty, established in 1981,

is one of the first research ethics review committees to be established anywhere in the region. It was also the first Ethics Review Commit-tee in Sri Lanka to receive recognition under the Strate-gic Initiative for Development of Capacity in Ethics Review (SIDCER) programme of the World Health Organisation (WHO) when it was recog-nised in 2009.

The Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo Today

The Sri Lanka Medical Association is the oldest national medical Associa-tion in Asia and Australasia. At its inception, 125 years ago in 1887, the Associa-tion was called the “Ceylon Branch of the British Medi-cal Association”. Sixty four years later, on 5 November 1951 it was renamed the “Ceylon Medical Associa-tion”. On 15 November 1956 the Association became independent of the British Medical Association. Finally on 17 November 1972, after Sri Lanka became a repub-lic, it was renamed the “Sri

Lanka Medical Association”. The Association holds an anniversary International Medical Congress which has been held unbroken every year for 75 years since 1937. The Association publishes the Ceylon Medical Journal which is the oldest English language medical journal in Asia and Australasia.

The “Wijerama House” in Colombo, the Headquarters of the Sri Lanka Medical As-sociation

The conference was held in Sri Lanka at a very im-portant time for Sri Lanka when the country is looking at rapid economic develop-ment through investment in Research and Development. In that background, develop-ing the necessary human resources and infrastructure to conduct research in an ethical manner is very impor-tant. This conference will go a long way towards human resources development to build capacity for research ethics review in the country.

12th FERCAP International Conference and General Assembly

Contd. on page 29

Sri Lanka’s Pioneering

Contribution to Medicine in

the Modern Era comes in the

form of the Faculty of Medicine,

University of Colombo,

established in 1870. The

Ethics Review Committee of

the Faculty, established in

1981, is one of the first

research ethics review

committees to be established

anywhere in the region.

Development, Ethnicity, Culture and Ethical Health Research


Prof. Hemantha SenanayakeUniversity of Colombo, Professor in Obstetrics and

Gynaecology, Prof. Hemantha Senanayake delivering his lecture on “Ethical Research and Diseases of Poverty” on behalf representing the World Health Organization Tropi-cal Disease Research Programme (WHO-TDR)

Prof. Arjuna AluwihareUniversity of Peradeniya, Emiretus Professor of Sur-

gery, Prof. Arjuna Aluwihare delivering his lecture on “Contextual Lessons from Surgical Archaeology?”

Dr Chandanie WanigatungaUniversity of Sri Jayewardenapura, Ethics Review

Committee Chairperson, Dr Chandanie Wanigatunga delivering her lecture on “Reviewing Traditional Medicine Research in Sri Lanka”

Prof. Asita De SilvaNational Steering Committee for Clinical Trials in Sri

Lanka, Member Prof. Asita De Silva delivering his lecture on “Improving the Environment for Clinical Trials in Sri Lanka”

Dr Ashwini De AbrewSri Lanka Clinical Trials Registry Managemetn Commit-

tee, Member Dr Ashwini De Abrew delivering her lecture on “Utilization of Clinical Trial Registry for Better Health Research”

Sri Lankan Speakers at the 12th FERCAP International Conference

Prof. Hemantha Senanayake

Dr Chandanie Wanigatunga

Prof. Asitha De Silva

Dr Ashwini De Abrew

Prof. Arjuna Aluwihare

22


23

Biomedical and Health Experimenta-tion in South

Asia (BHESA): critical perspectives on collabo-ration, governance and competition is a research collaboration between the Universities of Ed-inburgh (UK), Durham (UK), and Colombo (Sri Lanka), Social Science Baha (Nepal), and the Anusandhan Trust (India).

The project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and The Department for International Development (DfID) research scheme. It is an "arms-length" fund-ing scheme by the United Kingdom government. The collaborating teams are:• UniversityofEdinburgh,UK–Roger

Jeffrey,IanHarper• DurhamUniversity,UK–Robert

Simpson,SallaSariola• AnushanTrust,India–AmarJesani,

NahaMadhiwala,AnujKapilashrami,DeapicaRavindran

• SocialScienceBaha,Nepal–RekhaKhatri,JeevanRajSharma

• UniversityofColombo,SriLanka–VajiraH.W.Dissanayake,TharindiUdalagamaThe project explored the

relationships between ex-perimental scientific enqui-ries in medicine and public health, the pharmaceutical industry, and developmen-tal programmes, to assess their impact in South Asia.

Using case studies of experimental projects in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka such as research collabo-rations that connect inter-national researchers with local institutions, person-nel and populations, the networks were analysed through ethical, socio-anthropological, political and economic frames. The website of the project is http://www.bhesa.org

In Collaboration with the Biomedical and Health Experimentation in South Asia (BHESA) Project at the 12th FERCAP International conference

Symposium on Collaboration, Ethics and Research Culture at the 12th FERCAP International Conference

Project team with the chairpersons at the Symposium. (From Left) Prof. Roger Jeffery, Tharindi Udalagama, Anuj Kapilashrami, Prof. Vajira H. W. Dissanayake, Dr. Roli Mathur, Prof. Robert Simpson.


24

From: Francis P. Crawley [[email protected]]

It was such a privilege to be in Sri Lanka for the FERCAP Conference. You and your team in Sri Lanka did a wonderful job organizing the meeting and making everyone feel so wel-come.

Francis P. Crawley is the Executive Director of the Good Clinical Practice Alliance – Europe (GCPA) in Brussels, Belgium and a World Health Organiza-tion (WHO) Expert in ethics. He is the co-founder and a Steering Committee member of the Strategic Initiative for Developing Capacity in Ethical Review (SIDCER).

From: Greg Koski [[email protected]]

Thanks for allowing me to be part of the FERCAP family and thanks for the wonderful Sri Lankan hospitality.

Greg Koski is the Chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the Strategic Initia-tive for Developing Capacity in Ethical Re-view (SIDCER). He is also an Anesthetist in the Cardiac Anesthesia Group; Senior Scientist, Massachusetts General Hos-pital/Partners Institute for Health Policy; and Associate Professor of Anesthesia, Harvard Medical School

From: Kenji Hirayama [[email protected]]

Congratulations for your big suc-cess in hosting the FERCAP confer-ence in 2012.

On behalf of FERCAP Steering committee members, I would like to give a sincere gratitude to your nice hospitality to all the participants in the 12th international conference and general assembly in Colombo.

We all enjoyed stay and somehow

understood your culture.Kenji Hirayama is the Chair of FER-

CAP and Professor, Department of Immu-nogenetics, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Japan

From: Cristina E. Torres [[email protected]]

Just want to commend you for a very well organized conference. I wish you more success and looking forward to a more meaningful collabo-ration.

Cristina E. Torres is the Co-ordinator of FERCAP. She is a Social Science Pro-fessor and Consultant in Research Ethics.

From: CJChen [[email protected]]

Congratulations on organizing such a successful international conference with a record-breaking number of participants.

CJ Chen is a Board Member, FERCAP Steering Committee and Former Minister of Health of Taiwan

From: Marita Reyes [[email protected]]

I arrived home yesterday - safely and happy over the proceedings of the a12th FERCAP conference.

Thank you for being such a gra-cious host. The airport reception, the hotel accommodation, the smooth running of the conference and the quality of the presentations - all con-tributed to the success of the meet-ing.

Marita V. T. Reyes is co chair of the Philippines Health Research Ethics Board

From: Phub Sangay [[email protected]]

Thank you sir for the wonderful ex-perience we had at Colombo during FERCAP conference

Phub Sangay is the Chief Statistical Officer at the National Statistics Bureau, Thimphu, Bhutan

From: Sopit Thamaree [[email protected]]

On behalf of members from Med. Chula. IRB and the University IRB, we would like to congratulate for your success in organizing the 12th FER-CAP Conference.

Our group from Chulalongkorn Medical School and Chulalongkorn University enjoyed the meeting and also visiting the interesting places in beautiful country. We will visit Srilan-ka again when we have opportunity.

Thanks for very warm hospitality.Sopit Thamaree is a member secretary

of several Institutional Review Boards in Thailand including the one in the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

From: Sangeeta Desai [[email protected]]

I reached Mumbai just now. Thanks for impeccable organization of the FERCAP conference.

Sangeeta Desai is Professor & Pathologist, Former Member Secretary, Institutional Ethics Committee

Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India, and Chairperson, Ethics Committee, Prince Aly Khan Hospital, Mumbai, India

From: Roli Mathur [[email protected]]

Heart Congratulations on the grand success of the FERCAP Conference. I must thank you and your team for making it a wonderful experience. The conference was well organised and all arrangements were in place to make our stay comfortable. I thor-oughly enjoyed my first visit to Sri Lanka.

Comments from International Participants at the 12th FERCAP International Conference

Contd. on page 27


25

The Chief Guest Prof. Anoja Fernando, Members of the FERCAP Steering Committee, and Special Invitees being lead into the conference hall by SLMA President Prof. Vajira Dissanayake; SLMA Secretary Dr Lasantha Malavige.

FERCAP Chairperson Prof. Kenji Hiriyama of Nagasaki University, Japan welcoming the delegates

University of Colombo, Faculty of Medicine, Dean Prof. Rohan W Jayas-ekara welcoming the delegates

Sri Lankan delegates were the members of the Ethcis Review Committes of the University of Colombo, University of Jaffna, University of Kelaniya, Univeristy of Ruhuna, University of Sri Jayewardenepura and Medical Research Institute.

Some of the Asian and European international delegates.

SLMA President Prof. Vajira H. W. Dissanayake welcoming the delegates

SLMA President Prof. Vajira Dissanayake Presenting a special plaque to Chief Guest Prof Anoja Fernando in recognition of her outstanding service to Bioethics as the Immediate Past President, Asian Bioethics Association; Chairperson, Ethics Review Committee, Sri Lanka Medical Association; Founder Chairperson, Forum for Ethics Review Committees in Sri Lank; and Chairperson, National Committee on Ethics in Science and Technology, National Science Foundation, Sri Lanka.

Delegates viewing the posters describing the ethics review committees in the Asia Pacific Region.

FERCAP Steering Committee; (From Left) Vicente Belizario Jr. [Philippines, FER-CAP Board Member], Cristina Torres [Philippines, FERCAP Co-ordinator], Magdari-na Destri Agtini [Indonesia, FERCAP Board Member], Vichai Chokevivat [Thailand; SIDCER Chair], Vajira H. W. Dissanayake [Sri Lanka, FERCAP Board Member], Juntra Karbwang Laothavorn [Thailand, Former Head, Strategic Quality Manage-ment, WHO-TDR and Founding Member, FERCAP], Kenji Hirayama [Japan, Chair FERCAP], Aphornpirom Ketupanya [Thailand, FERCAP Board Member], Roli Mathur [India, FERCAP Board Member], Chien-Jen Chen [Taiwan, Former Minister of Health, Taiwan], Young Mo Koo [South Korea, FERCAP Vice Chair]

Highlights of the 12th FERCAP International Conference


26

The Sri Lanka Medical As-sociation Awards for Excel-lence in Health Journalism are awarded every year

to recognize excellence in Health Journalism. We have been making these awards since the year 2003. This year marks the 10th year of these awards.

The SLMA received many appli-cations. A panel consisting Dr Wa-runa Gunathilake, Prof. Ganganath Dissanayake, Dr M K Muruganan-dan and Dr V Murali and Prof. Saroj Jayasinghe evaluated the submis-sions and selected the winners.

The award for the best feature article of the year in the Sinhala

medium was won by Uthpala Sub-hashini Jayasekara of the Lakbima Newspapers (Private) Limited for her article “දරැවා ‍එක්වරම ‍පාසැල් ‍යාමට ‍මැලිවිවන ‍ෙහ් ‍තු ‍දැනගනිමු”

The award for the best feature article of the year in the Tamil medium was won by M H F Husna of Thinakkural Publications for her article “පෙට්රෝරැක්කු ‍එච්චරික්කයි” (Warning to Parents).

The award for the best feature article of the year in the English medium was won by Carol Rhoni Aloysius of the Rivira Media Corpo-ration for her article “Geriatric Care: Lanka’s biggest challenge”.

This year, with the view to encour-

aging health education on nutrition, we introduced a new award, the best feature article of the year on nutrition.

There were no submissions in Sinhala and Tamil for this award.

The award for the best feature article of the year on nutrition in the English medium was won by Carol Rohni Aloysius of the Rivira Media Corporation for her article “Breast milk is a child’s right – WHO”

The awards were presented at the Inauguration of the Foundation Sessions of the SLMA on 9 Novem-ber 2012 at the SLMA auditorium.

SLMA Awards for Excellence in Health Journalism

The winners of the Health Journalism awards with the Chief Guest, SLMA President and Secretary; (From left) M H F Husna, Uthpala SubhashiniJayasekara and Carol Rhoni Aloysius


27

The Sri Lanka Medical Asso-ciation (SLMA) is pleased to an-

nounce the establishment of the above mentioned award with a generous donation made by Prof. Wilfred S.E. Perera MJF, MBBS, FRCS(Ed), FRCS (Eng), FRCOG, FSLCOG, FAOFOG, FSLCS, Hon-FCGP (SL) distinguished Past President of the SLMA.

Annually one or more travel awards will be made to members of Eth-ics Review Committees (ERC) in Sri Lanka recog-

nised under the Strategic Initiative for Development of Capacity in Ethics Review (SIDCER) of the World Health Organisa-tion (WHO), administered by the Forum for Ethical Review Committees in Asia and the Western Pacific (FERCAP), to at-tend the annual FERCAP International Congress to represent their com-mittees. Applications for the Travel Award will be called at the time of call-ing for annual awards of the SLMA. This award will be made starting in 2013.

Prof. Wilfred S. E. Perera Travel Award in Bioethics

Roli Mathur is a Board Member of the Steering Committee of FERCAP. She is also Program Officer for Human Genetics, Bioethics, Hematology, Anatomy, Anthro-pology, Animal Ethics, Bioinformatics & Short Term Studentships in the Division of Basic Medical Sciences, Indian Council of Medical Research

From: Jin Huang[[email protected]]

We have arrived in Shanghai safely. The FERCAP annual conference just closed has deeply impressed me. It is no doubt that you and your teams combined with FERCAP organizers have definitely hosted an excellent FERCAP annual conference. We had opportunity to not only commu-

nicate with FERCAP family members from different countries and area to exchange ideas on ethics review, but also enjoy the Sri Lankan food, dance, history, culture and heritages to learn about ethical attitude very well from each other. It is must be an important event to improve the research ethics review capacity build-ing and standardization in the history of Srilankan and FERCAP. During the meeting, I have briefly reported the conference in live to the more than 50 ethics committees in China through our QQ instant message platform.

Jin Huang is Secretary, Chaihai Hospi-tal Ethics Committee, Shanghai Changhai

Hospital, Second Military Medical Univer-sity, China

From: Bob Simpson [[email protected]]

Many thanks again for your hos-pitality and the brilliant way you and your team hosted the conference. It was a very impressive feat of organ-isation and a real credit to you all.

Bob Simpson is Professor of Anthro-pology at the Durham University, UK. He is a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics working party on donation of human tissue. He has spent many years in Sri Lanka as a researcher during his student days and during his sabbatical years.

Comments from International...Contd.from page 24


28

Two Sri Lankan Ethics Re-view Committees received recognition has having reached Strategic Initiative

for Development of Capacity in Eth-ics Review (SIDCER) of the World Health Organisation (WHO) stan-dards at the General Assembly of the Forum for Ethical Review Commit-tees in Asia and the Western Pacific

(FERCAP) on 21 November 2012. These are the only SIDCER recog-nised Ethics Review Committees in Sri Lanka.

This committee was recognised as having reached SIDCER standards in November 2009. This year, they were re-evaluated and the recogni-tion was extended for a further 3 years up to 2015.

The Ethics Review Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo

The Ethics Review Committee of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Science, Sri Jayewardenepura University. This committee was recognised as hav-ing reached SIDCER standards this year.

SIDCER Recognition Ceremony

Members of the Ethics Review Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo lead by Chairperson Prof. Hemantha Senanayake and Secretary Dr Enoka Corea with the recognition renewal certificate.

Members of the Ethics Review Committee of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Sri Jayewardenepura University lead by the Chairperson Dr Chandanie Wanigatunge and Secretary, Vathsala Jayasuriya with the recognition plaque.

At the 12th FERCAP General Assembly


29

1992Dr Malik Fernando MBChB (Bristol)Dr Malik Fernando spent his profes-sional life in Sri Lanka as a medical officer in the Kolonnawa Terminal of

the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation. He is one of the few doctors who have been President of the SLMA from the non-institutional sector. He has been a Council member for many years and an active member and live wire of many of its committees includ-ing the Snake Bite Expert Committee, Ethics Committee, and the Ethics Review Committee.

He has had wide interests in nature and outdoor activities and has been able to acquire knowledge in areas not generally ventured into by other doctors. Being a keen SCUBA diver his Presidential address was titled ‘Some Hazards of Diving’ and dealt with such topics as decompression sickness and stings by jellyfish and other venomous marine animals. He has been a member of the Expert Committee on snakebite since its inception in 1983 as a result of his

interest in sea snakes and is now its Secretary; he has edited a number of its publications (Snakebite: Preven-tion and First Aid – 1993; Guidelines for the Management of Snakebite in Hospitals – 1996 poster; Guidelines for the Management of Snakebite in Hospitals – 2005 & 2007 on CD-ROM). He has been the Chair of the Ethics Committee since 1993 and helped set up the Ethics Review Committee in 1998. He has repre-sented the SLMA as a member of the National Bioethics Committee (2005 - 2008) and the National Committee on Ethics in Science and Technology (2008 - 2010) both of the National Science Foundation. He has also represented the SLMA in the Organ-isation of Professional Associations from 1991 to 2012.

Professor Saroj Jayasinghe was the Honorary Secretary in 1992.

Past Presidents of SLMA

Therefore the conference is expected to have a positive impact on the countries research and development agenda which is highlighted by the National Science Foundation joining hands to co-host the conference with the Sri Lanka Medical Association and the University of Colombo.

Delegates from Australia, Belgium, Bhutan, Botswana, China, India, In-donesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand¸ Philippines, South Ko-rea, Sri Lanka, Thaiwan, Thiland, UK, USA and the Host Country, Sri Lanka, participate in the conference.

At the FERCAP general assembly held on 21 November 2012, the Eth-ics Review Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo which had been recognised under the SIDCER programme of the WHO,

administered by FERCAP, as having reached SIDCER standards was had its recognition renewed for another period of 3 years; while the Ethics Review Committee of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura was recognised for the first time as having reached SIDCER standards.

Prof. Vajira H. W. Dissanayake was awarded a special plaque by the FERCAP in recognition of his dedica-tion and unswerving commitment to human subject protection in support-ing the FECAP initiatives for capacity building of ethics committees.

Prof. Dissanayake thanked the FERCAP Steering Committee for having awarded this conference to Sri Lanka and for the support that they extended to the Sri Lankan team to

organize the conference. On a per-sonal note, he said that “Ever since I became a member of FERCAP, I have always wanted to host FERCAP in Sri Lanka because of the enor-mous contribution FERCAP is making to protect human subjects taking part in research by developing capacity for research ethics review in the Asia Pacific Region including in Sri Lanka. This conference therefore has been a personal dream come true.”

The conference was a resounding success. It was the first time that the Sri Lanka Medical Association had hosted an international conference of this nature and another milestone in the annals of the oldest national medical association in Asia and Aus-tralasia.

12th FERCAP International...Contd.from page 21


30

In the past, Dr Uragoda has been honoured with the Guinness Award from the Commonwealth Science Council- London, the Rev. Fr. Peter Pillai Award for promoting Social Justice, The Sri Lanka Executive President’s Award for Scientific Achievement, Sarvodaya Award for Advancement of Humanity, Develop-ment and Peace, Hilda Obeysekera Medal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka and Distinguished Member-ship of the Faculty of Occupational Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians, London. In recognition of yeoman service to the National Health Service and the nation, the Government of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka be-stowed on him the National Honour of Deshabandu in the year 2004.

Dr Uragoda has published over 80 papers on a sparkling galaxy of subjects such as Tropical Occupa-tional lung diseases related to tea, cinnamon, limonite, chilli, kapok, coir, sulphur dioxide bleaching of choir, graphite, granite, whole-grain wheat, activated carbon, rice, silk and spices. His published work has em-bellished the Ceylon Medical Journal and many other international journals in the UK, USA, India, Holland, Aus-tralia and the renowned World Health Organisation publications. He has authored ten books on a variety of subjects and contributed a chapter to the Oxford Text Book of Medicine-3rd edition. He was the au-thor of the Centenary Volume of the SLMA in 1987, the Centenary volume of the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka and the ses-quicentennial volume of the Royal Asiatic Society. Dr Uragoda, the unassuming and gentle Colossus among the contem-porary medical practitioners of Sri Lanka, who singlehandedly carried the torch for these diseases, not only in Sri Lanka but also right across the

globe internationally. He is unques-tionably the much valued doyen of these two disciplines in Sri Lanka. No one else has done as much and still remained so humble about all his fabulous achievements. Indeed, he is the epitome of the man for all seasons, renowned for his integrity and character, a person of such high calibre that he is the essential em-bodiment of what it means to be a man. No matter the circumstance or time, he always rose to the challenge of being the man that providence has created him to be.

From a personal point of view, in the context of my own abiding inter-est in paediatric respiratory diseases, I have been ever so enriched by my many associations with Dr Uragoda. He has been a mentor of sorts and definitely a glittering role model. Many are the times when he had responded, ever so promptly, to my requests for help with medical litera-ture. Several of these were in those halcyon days, well before the arrival of computers, internet and word pro-cessors. Communication was through snail-mail but he would respond virtu-ally by return of post. My gratitude

for those acts of supreme kindness has no boundaries whatsoever. I have definitely been that much richer academically for all those invaluable contacts, with a man like no other, in this land like no other.

In every profession there are individuals, who in their lifetime, are justifiably accorded a historical position and recognition because of their achievements and the impact they make on their peers, Dr C. G. Uragoda is one such person. He is listed in the internet as a Sri Lankan Physician, Author, Folklorist, Historian and a Conservationist. That must surely be the ultimate accolade for a man who has accomplished so much in a lifetime. The eternal web has recorded him as a shining beacon for generations to come and forever more.

Mr President, Ladies and Gentle-men, it is with great humility and tremendous joy that I wish to pres-ent to you Dr Christopher Gunapala Uragoda, the gentle giant of respira-tory medicine, as a most deserving recipient, for the award of the much admired title of Honorary Life Member of The Sri Lanka Medical Association.

Award of Honorary...Contd.from page 19

SLMA President, Prof. Vajira H. W. Dissanayake presenting the Honorary Life Membership Plaque to Dr. C. G. Uragoda

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Clinically proven tohelp peoplegain weight.

A UPM efficacy study on Appeton Weight Gain involving adults and children revealed that both groups gained an average of 2kg over 2 to 3 months.

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The study proved that Appeton Weight Gain is effective and helps people to gain weight healthily without any complication.

Average 2kg gained in 2 to 3 months by adults and children*.

* Efficacy study on Appeton Weight Gain conducted by Dr. Amin Ismail and team at the Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia.

Adult Formula Child Formula

The healthy way to gain weight effectively*.The key to weight gain is Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER), Specificity and Bioavailability.

Protein EfficiencyRatio (PER)PER is the measurement of a protein’s ability to increase body weight. A standard protein has a PER value of 2.5. Appeton Weight Gain has a high PER value of 3.1.

SpecificityAppeton Weight Gain contains the right amounts of the right amino acids needed for tissue growth.

Appeton Weight Gain has a higher bioavailability as its protein is derived from whey which contains a high concentration of branched amino acids that are more easily digested and absorbed by the body.

Bioavailability

Stable against heat and oxidation in food processing.

Masks unpleasant taste and flavour.

Mild on the stomach because of its insolubility in gastric juices.

Sustained release and high absorption.

Amino Acid 1 Amino Acid 2

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Proteins

AminoAcids

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As this is an urgent matter, it is nec-essary to take some action from a public health point of view. Is there a case for stopping the use of artificial chemicals in agriculture in the af-fected areas?

There have been similar problems related to the use of agricultural chemicals in some African and Latin American countries like Nicaragua. In any case there is the emerging problem globally of toxic chemical accumulation in ground water, which has to be addressed.

Should we not be asking the ques-tion whether it is not time to switch over to organic fertilizer and pesticide free natural methods of agriculture, based on what was traditionally practiced? With the benefit of modern science there is evidence that there should not be any drop in yields.

I am glad that when the present Minister of Health, Hon. Maithripala Sirisena, was the Minister of Agricul-ture the promotion of organic farming

was accepted as an objective of the National Agriculture Policy he devel-oped. Perhaps the time has come to take drastic action, the powerful artificial fertilizer and pesticide lobby notwithstanding.

It is my view that there should be a close nexus between the laboratory and the public health workers. When I was the Director of the Medical Research Institute I advocated setting up the Epidemiology Unit there. This has been done successfully at the Centres for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, USA.

Advanced Technology – I am glad that you have included a symposium on Nanotechnology in public health in your program, which I have been asked to chair. Our region has a rich biodiversity, and Sri Lanka has been identified as a hotspot, and when the world is turning away from artificial medicines towards those of natural origin, we should make use of advanced technologies like Bio-

technology and Nanobiotechnology to develop our pharmaceutical products tapping our rich biodiversity. We need to develop vaccines that are effective against diseases like HIV and den-gue.

Those aware of the health prob-lems, their cause and their solu-tions like you, have a responsibility to apportion the responsibility for prevention and overcoming them to the various players according to the causal factors. In the words of Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Laureate in Econom-ics, "We can achieve a society more in accord with our fundamental values by investing more in our society – in education, access to health care, technology and infrastructure. An-other world is possible." There is much of importance that needs to be discussed at this conference. I thank you for having invited me to partici-pate in the inaugural ceremony, and I wish you a highly successful and fruit-ful conference.


The pinnacle of the activi-ties, the inauguration and main congress was held on 18th October at Hotel Palm Garden Village. The congress was in collabora-tion with SLMA. The Health Minister of the North Cen-tral Province, Hon. H.B. Semasinghe, deputized as Chief Guest represent-ing the Minister of Health Hon. Maithripala Sirisena who was unable to make it, and SLMA president Prof.Vajira Dissanayake, was the guest of Honour. The sixth volume of the “Anu-radhapura Medical Journal (AMJ)” was also launched during the inauguration cer-

emony. There were nearly 200 delegates participat-ing in the Congress which consisted of symposia and plenary lectures. The sym-posium on “Health Chal-lenges of North Central Province” was chaired by Prof.Vajira Dissanayake. Dr Tilak Sirisena,Consultant Cardiologist and Dr Ra-jeeva Dasanayake, Con-sultant Nephrologist from the Teaching Hospital Anuradhapura made short presentations on chal-lenging issues related to Anuradhapura district while Dr.Haritha Dharmakeerthi, Consultant Anesthetist and President of the Polonna-

ruwa Clinical Society made a presentation representing the Polonnaruwa District.

This symposium focused on many health challenges faced by the largest prov-ince in the country and lack of cardiac catheterization facilities was highlighted by the Consultant Cardiologist which needs attention of the relevant authorities. It was highlighted that the Teaching Hospital Anurad-hapura was the third larg-est hospital in the country and that it serves three provinces in the Northern part of the country. The Symposium on profession-alism was a novel experi-

ence to the delegates. All guest lecturers were deliv-ered by resource persons who were experts in their fields. Three best research papers were selected by a panel headed by Prof. Vajira Dissanayake.

The sessions concluded with the “ACS dinner“ held at Gajaba regiment pool side at Saliyapura which was an unforgettable ex-perience for more than 400 invitees. Senior pediatrician and President Elect SLMA Dr B. J. C. Perera was the Chief Guest and his presentation on his journey as a doctor was a palate cleanser for the invitees.

Anuradhapura Clinical...Contd.from page 16

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