Past Presidents

It is a great honor and a privilege for me to convey this message for the 29th Annual Academic Sessions of College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka (CCPSL) as the 29th President of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka.

CCPSL being the highest public health professional body in Sri Lanka, always play advocacy, technical and catalyzing roles in performing with excellence public health achievements. Its membership serves the country in a multi-faceted model extending from international to divisional level in hierarchy as well as covering both service delivery and academia in scope. These phenomena make the CCPSL doing justice to its vision which goes as “an excelling and universally acclaimed profession dedicated to achieve the fullest potential for health, wellbeing and quality of life of the people in Sri Lanka”. During the year of 29th council of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka, we have conducted series of programmes for the public health professionals and general public, virtually, in person to enhance the knowledge on public health, disease prevention and health promotion.

Amidst the numerous events and activities that spreads across the whole council year, the Annual Academic Sessions (AAS 2024) is given a premier highlight as it becomes a forum for knowledge update, evidence sharing as well as planning of the way forward. The 29th Annual Academic Sessions has thus been planned meticulously well-ahead. The event encompasses a pre-congress, inauguration followed by symposia, free-paper sessions as well as poster presentations that extends across two days. Eminent pool of resources and participants from local as well as international settings would grace the event.

The theme of the AAS-2024 has been selected as “Public health through fostering collaboration and building resilience”. This becomes very timely owing to the current health-related dynamics across the world. In public health activities, fostering collaboration in the forms of partnerships, alliances, coalitions as well as networks becomes an essential strategy. This is further necessitated as public health interventions usually being complex-interventions that need more than one-off solutions. Complementarily, a resilience of the system is needed to ensure Sri Lanka effectively prevent, prepare for, detect, adapt to, respond to and recover from public health threats while ensuring quality of health services in all contexts. The evidences generated and the scientific dialogues of AAS-2024, would thus, facilitate the contribution of CCPSL towards the recovery process of Sri Lanka following the economic crisis.

I take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the orator for the college oration 2024, Chief Guest and the Guest of Honor for accepting our invitation and gracing the AAS 2024.

I extend my warmest congratulations to the chairpersons and speakers of the symposia as well as the presenters of free paper sessions and posters. Furthermore, I express my sincere gratitude to the council members, conference chair and organizing committee for their commendable contributions in unveiling AAS 2024.

As the world faces unprecedented economic challenges, it is imperative that we explore sustainable solutions to weather this storm and emerge stronger on the other side. One crucial aspect that demands our attention is the efficiency of our health system.

28th Annual Academic Sessions of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka undertook the theme “Weathering the economic crisis through health system efficiency” reiterating the importance of investing in health system efficiency as an investment in the long-term development of the healthcare system.

I expect the participants will have a platform to explore the avenues to optimize our health system efficiency, thereby contribute to navigate the current economic crisis while safeguarding the health and well-being of our citizens.

I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to the members of the Council and organizing committee who worked tirelessly to ensure this event a success during a challenging time. A special note of appreciation goes for the commitment of the young energetic team of post graduate trainees who are the future of our specialty and worked closely with the College during my tenure.

I wish you all will benefit and are empowered to create a more efficient and resilient health system that will serve as a buffer against economic upheavals. Investing in health is investing in our future, and together, we can weather this economic crisis while safeguarding the health and well-being of our citizens.

Dr. S. M. Arnold President of CCPSL 2022-2023

I am honored and privileged to send this message for the 27th Annual Academic Sessions of the prestigious College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka. In the background of our country facing the COVID-19 pandemic and thriving through an economic crisis, we have opted for a timely theme this year, which is ‘Public Health for Resilience’.

Community Physicians across the country have been playing a tremendous role in preventing and controlling the COVID-19 outbreak in the country. In addition, the roles played by them in preventing and controlling the other communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases, promoting maternal and child health, promoting mental health, addressing the nutritional status of the people, enhancing occupational and environmental safety and disaster risk reduction are invaluable. Thus, members of our esteemed College have been commended locally and internationally for paving the way for better health indicators of the country and better quality of life of fellow Sri Lankans, despite the various challenges and limitations.

The Annual Academic Sessions of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka is the platform where these roles, activities and inventions related to public health are not only showcased, but also discussed and debated.

I would like to extend my gratitude for the Council 2021/2022, the organizing committee and the membership for their tireless and steady efforts in organizing the 27th Annual Academic Sessions of the College, truly portraying the determined, unbeatable nature of the Community Physicians of Sri Lanka.

I wish the 27th Annual Academic Sessions of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka, a success

Dr. Lakshmi Somatunga

President

College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of the College of Community Physicians,

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka was held on 18th September 2020 immediately after the Annual Sessions. There were 68 members present at the AGM. The induction of me as the President of the CCPSL was also held on the same evening at the Hotel Shangri La, Colombo.

I would like to thank all our CCPSL members for having your trust in me to be the 26th President of this prestigious professional College. I will make sure that the trust given will be upheld and my Council will do the best to build on the excellent work done by the previous Councils. The immediate past President and his Council should be applauded for the wide range of activities carried out amidst ongoing COVID 19 Pandemic. Congratulations for a job well done.

Let me at the outset remind our members that the Council of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka was incorporated under (Incorporation) Act, No.18 of 1999 [Certified on 24th June, 1999] and was with the following objectives a) To organize programmes on Community Medicine including post graduate education and research, in order to promote knowledge and experience in the subject among medical practitioners;

b) To organize programmes on community medicine for the welfare of the people, and to promote awareness of the subject among the people;

c) To promote fellowship with, and assist, persons and institutions engaged in the practice of community medicine;

d) To do other acts and things as are conducive or incidental to the attainment of the above objects.

The current constitution was adopted at the AGM 2012 which also has similar objectives..

The immediate past President Dr. Sapumal Dhanapala and I agreed for a two-year plan for the CCPSL. The main aim of the year 2019/20 was to improve the image of the Community Physicians, PG trainees and promote the interest of PH in the periphery, to get more interested MOHs and MOs to apply for our MSc course. Year 2020/21 will continue the above and promote our image further and we will plan to establish a few collaborations with overseas PH Institutions.

As you already know the theme for the year is “Improving Human Capital through an Integrated Approach to Primary Health Care”. I strongly believe that we in Sri Lanka should have one plan for health development. We need to improve the quality of health services that we provide across the country. We need to ensure that we maintain equality in the provision of health care to all citizens. We need to support implementation of the new model of Primary Care Strategy that has been initiated. We have already planned to have the first council meeting on 6th October 2020 and will share the activity plan with you once the Council approved it.

There have been good initiatives started by previous Councils which we will continue. To name a few “super 8”, “clinical governance” and “Youth as a smart investment”.

I invite all members of the CCPSL who are interested in supporting the College activities to volunteer to serve either by informing the Secretary Dr. Anuji Gamage or any Council Member.

Finally, I thank all the council members for accepting my invitation to be in the Council and the benevolent gesture in conducting the election of office bearers and committee at the AGM. Thank you all.

I wish all members of the CCPSL the very productive year ahead.

Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe

President CCPSL

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of the College of Community Physicians,

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka was held on 27th September 2019 and was conducted in strict accordance with the Constitution and in the spirit of how it should be done. There were 48 members who signed the attendance sheet but many more who were present at the AGM had not signed the attendance sheet.

I would like to thank the members for having their trust in me to be the 25th President of this prestigious professional College. I will make sure that the trust given will be upheld and my Council will do the best to build on the excellent work done by the previous Councils. The outgoing president Dr. Janaki Vidanapathirana and her Council should be applauded for the wide range of activities carried out and also hosting the International Epidemiology Association (IEA) Conference along with the 24th Annual sessions of the CCPSL. Congratulations for a job well done. It will be a challenge for me and my Council to perform to your expectations after such an eventful year.

I would like to thank all members for attending the AGM, where the attendance was more than the number usually seen at AGMs. Thank you for showing your enthusiasm in the CCPSL.

Let me at the outset remind our members that the Council of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka was incorporated under (Incorporation) Act, No.18 of 1999 [Certified on 24th June, 1999] and was with the following objectives a) To organize programmes on Community Medicine including post graduate education and research, in order to promote knowledge and experience in the subject among medical practitioners;

b) To organize programmes on community medicine for the welfare of the people, and to promote awareness of the subject among the people;

c) To promote fellowship with, and assist, persons and institutions engaged in the practice of community medicine;

d) To do other acts and things as are conducive or incidental to the attainment of the above objects.

The current constitution was adopted at the AGM 2012 which also has similar objectives. .

The President elect Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe and I have developed a two year plan for the CCPSL. The main aim this year 2019/20 is to improve the image of the Community Physicians, PG trainees and also promote the interest of PH in the periphery, to get more interested MOHs and MOs to apply for our MSc course. Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe who will be President the following year 2020/21 will continue the above and promote our image overseas.

There is a notion among our members that public health systems and programmes are declining and the yard stick used is the number sitting for the MSc screening exam. This is despite having more than 100 CCPs being added to the system during the last decade. This is our thinking and we run down ourselves but other disciplines appreciate the work we do. Eg. Perinatal Society, SLCOG, SLCP etc. We need to change our thinking if we believe in “prevention is better than cure”. The CCPSL is our organization and does not belong to successive Presidents and Councils, we are only caretakers and will hand the baton to the next committee after one year. The membership needs to play a bigger role than being complacent and only finding fault or complain. If any member has any fresh ideas please submit it directly to me or any member of the Council or you can come to the Council meeting and discuss issues or give new ideas. I welcome those members. There are also few armchair critics who only criticize without providing the options for solutions as we have seen in the recent e mail exchange. Please be reminded that I started with addressing all of you as Ladies and Gentlemen, I strongly believe that you will live up to that meaning by your conduct both in words and in deeds. We need to respect each other and in turn you will be respected. There is a saying that if you point a finger at someone there are four fingers pointing towards you. Please remember this and memorize it and live up to the expectations of your teachers. We as members of the CCPSL need to show our technical competencies and earn the respect of the peers, administration and health workers.

The vacancies for the next two years will not be an issue due to the large number of vacancies created due to taking up appointments of the Deputy Administrative Grade and the 14 end posts advertised both at central level and in the Provinces. There are many more end posts which will be advertised in early 2020.

There have been good initiatives started by previous Councils which we will continue. To name a few “super 8”, “clinical governance” and “invest in smart youth”.

The skills and attitudes of the PG/MSc Community Medicine students are weak as compared to similar PG students following administration or nutrition. We need to mentor them and improve their soft skills while building their confidence gradually to meet our expectations. A separate committee under Prof. Carukshi Arambepola has been instituted to look into this issue.

As the President I have had two years to identify suitable members to the Council and have invited all of them. You will note that the task is tough as you need members from the Ministry and Faculty, seniors and juniors, members from different Faculties, different Ministry units including the Provinces and it is a dilemma only you will understand once you get appointed to this post.

We in the next two years will establish a system, where sub committees listed in the attachment will be given full autonomy and will report to the Council. We as members of the CCPSL, should be “role models” to the MOs working in the periphery and national level, so that they in turn will be good community physicians like you.

During the next two years, we will negate the anomaly seen by inviting members to be honoured as Fellows and be on par with other Colleges in Sri Lanka. A Fellowship Committee has been identified to identify the potential members to be conferred the Fellowship next year both in Sri Lanka and Overseas. We need to improve the collaboration with our members overseas.

The proposed committees have been hand selected based on skills and passion for the area. I invite members of the CCPSL who are interested in supporting our vision to volunteer for these Committees either by informing the Secretary Dr. Manuja Perera or the respective committee chair or convener. Please use this as an opportunity to give back to the CCPSL.

Public Health is built on systems let us join hands to make the CCPSL stronger as a professional body.

Finally I thank all the council members for accepting my invitation to be in the Council and the magnanimous gesture in conducting the election of office bearers and committee at the AGM in a gentlemanly manner. Thank you all.

This year is our Silver Jubilee and I am fortunate to be the President.

I wish all members of the CCPSL the very best and invite all of you to celebrate the induction of the 25th President of the CCPSL on the 28th October (Monday) 2019 at 6.00PM at the Grand Ball Room of Galle Face Hotel.

Dr. Sapumal Dhanapala MD

President CCPSL

Ladies and Gentlemen of the College of Community Physicians,

As the year comes to an end, we need to look at ourselves and see if we met our own goals set for the year. Did we contribute to the best of our ability to the areas that we are assigned in our professional career? We also need to reflect our support to the CCPSL and as a discipline.

2019 was a good year for the College, where Dr. Janaki Widanapathirana and her council had an event filled year finishing with the IEA conference. We thank her for her untiring efforts to the CCPSL.

The committee appointed for 2019/2020 have already laid the foundation for improving the image of our members and public health. Mentoring of our PG students, establishment of the research cell, young community physicians forum, official CCPSL Facebook page, upgrading of website and formation of the subcommittees have been completed. If you have not yet volunteered please do it at your earliest.

In 2020, we have planned to have 9 regional workshops, sports events, team building activities, leadership activities, improve visibility of public health and also have planned to climb Adams Peak. The CCPSL Annual sessions have been arranged for from the 2nd to 4th July 2020 at the Galle Face hotel.

Please participate in all these events to be role models and ambassadors of public health.

We also need to join all CPD activities to update our knowledge and also be proud of our selves as public health physicians.

The manipulation of the health system to favor a few which was seen during the past few years which took a lot of time and effort of all previous councils is now a matter of the past. Our members were able to get reasonable posts for all our effort.

As the new year dawns let us all make a vow to appreciate and be proud of our work and discipline and work together to improve our role and image further.

On behalf of the council and myself , I wish you and your families the compliments of the season and may you have the courage to aspire to achieve greater heights in Public Health.

Yours obediently

Dr. Sapumal Dhanapala MD

President CCPSL

I am pleased to issue this message for the Annual Academic Sessions of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka, which is the pioneer of public health in Sri Lanka. This year’s theme “Healthy Environment: A Healthy investment for a healthier nation”, is a timely and an extremely important topic.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals affirms that a healthy environment is integral to ensure the enjoyment of basic human rights, including the rights to life, health, food, water and sanitation, and quality of life. A quarter of the global burden of disease could be attributed to the environmental pollution – the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink and the ecosystem which sustains us. Complex interaction between the environment and the humans have created challenges that mankind has never witnessed before. For example, climate change with its devastating consequences such as extreme weather events and related disasters, outbreaks of unprecedented magnitude and food and water scarcity, which could have detrimental consequences on human development.

Development and environmental sustainability are often looked as separate entities. Pollution is often managed through a reactive than a proactive approach. Short term economic gains are often given more value than long- term environmental gains. Sri Lanka, too as a country in the trajectory of development, has experienced many issues, trying to strike a balance between development and environmental sustainability.

Community Physicians could play a critical role in striking the balance between development and environmental sustainability. Environmental monitoring systems to assess the status of water, air and food needs to be established. Better policy and legal frameworks which are sensitive, both to the environment and health need to be formulated.

Environment and health-based advocacy needs to be done for all development initiatives. Environmental legislation needs to be enacted so that the balance between the environment and development is maintained. General public needs to be empowered through awareness programmes on sustainable environmental management. There are important developmental and environmental challenges for which solutions are needed through evidence generation through research. The Annual Academic Sessions of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka 2018 could be a forum where these roles are showcased, discussed and debated. While thanking the membership for their untiring efforts for the organizing the Annual Academic Sessions, I wish this event a success.

Dr Hemantha Herath President CCPSL

It gives me immense pleasure to send this message for the 22nd Annual Academic Sessions (AAS) of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka (CCPSL) which is to be held on 1st and 2nd September 2017. The theme for this year is ‘Strengthening the health system, for improving quality of care and patient safety”. CCPSL is one of the pioneering academic organizations in Sri Lanka. The main objective of the College is to advance the knowledge of, and to promote research and postgraduate education in Community Medicine. The CCPSL has contributed tremendously to upgrade the public health in our country. It has also strengthened the research culture to be on par with international standards. Sri Lanka has achieved excellent performance in some areas in the health sector compared to other developing countries. However, there is a huge gap between us and the developed health systems in terms of clinical quality and patients/clients safety concerns. When many developing countries are experiencing leadership challenges in healthcare, the less privileged are grappling with quality improvement in healthcare.

We have conducted series of workshops for the post graduates trainees and consultant community physicians, virtually on a monthly basis during the last year to enhance their knowledge. The workshops covered areas related to the theme of the year, including the method of generating best quality evidence for managing health conditions, converting evidence to policy and incorporating quality and safety improvement methods in to the whole health system.

Focusing on the theme of the year, the College further extends its duties and responsibilities for disseminating and sharing the knowledge and experience to strengthen the health system through the AAS 2017. It is indeed an honor for us to have, Professor Prathap Tharyan, Director Cochrane South Asia, as the Chief Guest and the keynote speaker, and Professor Maithree Wickramasinghe, Professor in English of the University of Kelaniya delivering the College Oration 2017. The 2 day academic and technical feast will offer ample prospects to discuss important issues related to quality of healthcare and safety, sharing information and exchanging ideas in the field of “health system strengthening”. I congratulate all the presenters of the symposia and the free paper sessions and posters for their excellent work which will add to the enhancement of knowledge on a wide range of topics.

Thus, I am certain that the AAS 2017 will provide the ideal environment and the platform to enhance the knowledge of all participants on all aspects related to clinical quality and patient safety and the other relevant topics. This is a member driven academic organization and the participation of our members has always given the organization extraordinary strength. Without the hard work and dedication of our membership, especially our postgraduate trainees, we would not have been able to add to another successful year.

I wish to thank the Council and all the members who have given their time and energy to support the College activities. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to all the registrars and senior registrars who dedicated their time working hard to organize a successful quality driven annual event.

I conclude by wishing the Annual Academic Sessions 2017, all the success.

Professor Chrishantha Abeysena President CCPSL

I am pleased to send this message to the proceedings of the 21st Annual Academic Sessions of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka to be held on the 2nd and 3rd September 2016.

We, the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka (CCPSL), always believe that a strong public health culture is a key factor and the foundation of the successes in the health sector of any country. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to share the new global developments, trends and evidence based research with our own public health professionals, and explore the opportunities for their professional development. This is an integral aspect of CCPSL and so the Annual Academic Sessions were established as a way of encouraging and fostering these practices.

As one of the premier professional organizations, the sessions of CCPSL are also an opportunity to disseminate new public health concepts, related to current research in global and local arena

We, the public health professionals, also believe that public health innovations, and sharing of best practices and knowledge nationally and internationally are core values, to be promoted among the public health professionals and other related stake holders. We hope that the work that is presented and discussed at these sessions will broaden the horizons of the field of the public health as well as cater to the interests of the public.

I am pleased to note that the CCPSL is continuing to engage in groundbreaking and important areas of work not only on home soil but also in other parts of the world as well. It is also noteworthy that the sessions have attracted a large number of experts, and professional figures, including some eminent locally and internationally acclaimed speakers. Papers on timely relevant topics in the country, and many research papers covering vast areas of public health interest are presented at these sessions this year.

It is indeed an honor for us to have, Prof Savitri Goonesekere, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Colombo as the Chief Guest, and Prof. Frank Oberklaid, Director of the Centre for Community Child Health, Australia as the Guest of Honour and the keynote speaker, to inaugurate our academic sessions.

On behalf of the College I value very much the guidance and cooperation rendered in numerous ways by the Hon. Minster of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Dr. Rajitha Senaratne, the Secretary to Ministry of Health Mr. Anura Jayawickreme, and the Director General of Health Servicers Dr. Palitha Mahipala throughout the past year.

I would like to pay my gratitude to all Professional Colleges from other disciplines of health, officials from various ministries, especially from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Child Development and Women’s Affairs, and the Commission of Child Probation.

Special words of appreciation go to our partner agencies, country representatives of WHO, UNFPA, HSDP project for their technical and financial support, and all our well-wishers for their numerous contributions, to make the sessions in 2016 a success.

I congratulate all my colleagues, Council members, Field staff, Senior and Junior Registrars for a job well done and appreciate all the hard work that went in to organizing this event.

I am confident that the 21st Academic sessions for 2016 will continue to shoulder the high standards that the CCPSL has set itself in the past.

Dr. Deepika Attygalle