eHealth Asia 2015 ends on a successful note

The eHealth Asia 2015 Conference organised by the Health Informatics Society of Sri Lanka (HISSL) was concluded successfully last week, according to its President Professor Vajira H. W. Dissanayake.

With the success of its previous eHealth conferences in 2010 and 2014, HISSL decided to host an annual health informatics gathering with Asia in focus under the title eHealth Asia.

The conference was organised with the objective of providing a common platform to share knowledge in all aspects of health and medical informatics implementations and Information and Communication Technology innovation adoption in healthcare.

The first conference in the series held in Colombo on 13 and 14 October was on the theme ‘ICT for Post 2015 Challenges’.

Prof. Dissanayake said it brought together Sri Lankan, regional and international eHealth experts, policy makers, practitioners and business solution providers. Around 300 delegates attended the conference. Among them were doctors, nurses, other categories of health care workers, and experts in the field of information and communication technology.

Inauguration of the eHealth Asia 2015 Conference

Traditional lighting of the oil lamp. From left: Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Rajitha Senarathne, Minister of University Education and Highways Lakshman Kiriella, Digital Health CEO Apsara Wijayawardene, Health Informatics Society of Sri Lanka CEO Dr. Roshan Hewapathirana, Director General of Health Services Dr. Palitha Maheepala, Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) Chairperson Chitrangani Mubarak, Health Informatics Society of Sri Lanka President and University of Colombo Postgraduate Institute of Medicine Specialty Board in Biomedical Informatics Founder Chairperson Prof. Vajira H. W. Dissanayake and Asian eHealth Information Network President Dr. Alvin Marcello

The Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka partnered with HISSL to co-organise the conference.

The conference was organised in collaboration with the Asian eHealth Information Network (AeHIN) and was webcast live to 23 countries in the Asian Region.

The conference partners included the The Global HISP Network and the Commonwealth Medical Association.

Doctors and other experts in eHealth delivered over 50 talks at the conferences on many topics related to eHealth. Several top international experts also addressed the conference.

Roundtable on future of digital health in Sri Lanka. From left: Prof. Sundeep Sahay, HISSP Network; Asian eHealth Information Network President Dr. Alvin Marcello; Dr. Pradeep Sylva, Health Information Unit, Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka; Health Informatics Society of Sri Lanka President Prof. Vajira H. W. Dissanayake; ICTA Sri Lanka CEO Muhunthan Canagey, ICTA Sri Lanka Programme Manager (eHealth) Sriyananda Rathnayake; Digital Health CEO Apsara Wijeyawardana; and Jagdish Hathiramani, Sunday Times Business Club

Among them were Prof. Sundeep Sahay a world renowned expert in eHealth from the University of Oslo, Dr. Alvin Marcello, the President of the Asian eHealth Information Network, and Mark Landry an eHealth Expert from the World Health Organisation.

Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Rajitha Senarathne, Minister of Higher Education and Highways Lakshman Kiriella and Minister of Digital Infrastructure Harin Fernando also attended the inaugural ceremony.

“eHealth Asia 2015 proved to be a turning point in the health care system of Sri Lanka and would accelerate the introduction of information and communication technology into every aspect of healthcare in Sri Lanka both in the public and private sectors,” HISL President Prof. Dissanayake added.