SLMA to celebrate 125th anniversary in 2012 with exhibition

The Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA), the apex professional association of all doctors in Sri Lanka, is celebrating its 125th Anniversary in 2012. The SLMA is in fact the oldest national professional medical association in Asia and Australasia.

To mark this event the SLMA is planning a series of conferences covering the entire country starting with a Members Convention in Colombo in January followed by regional conferences in Jaffna, Galle, Batticaloa, Kandy and Anuradhapura and ending up a with the grand finale, the SLMA Congress 2012, in Colombo in July.

The SLMA has been organising successful annual scientific conferences in Colombo in the past attracting both local and foreign delegates. It is hoped that, with the dawn of peace in the country, from the 125th year the calendar of country wide conferences would become an annual feature of SLMA activities.

These conferences will also be the opportunity to showcase the achievements of the Sri Lankan healthcare system to the rest of the world. The SLMA also plans to aggressively attract the Sri Lankan expatriate medical Diaspora in the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand as well as other countries to its meetings in the future to make Sri Lanka a regional hub for medical conferences.

The SLMA 2012 – Sri Lanka Medical Association Conferences and Exhibitions 2012 – running under the theme ‘Global Forum of Sri Lankan Doctors’ – was launched on 4 October 2011 at the Taj Samudra Hotel with Minister of Health Maitripala Sirisena as the Chief Guest and the Secretary Ministry of Health Dr. Ravindra Ruberu as the Guest of Honour.

The other speakers at the launch included Prof. Vajira H. W. Dissanayake, President Elect of SLMA and Dr. Dennis Aloysius, Past President of SLMA.

 The event was attended by other leading medical personalities in Sri Lanka.