Translations of 2 health books and 1 novel launched

By Fathima Riznaz Hafi

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Health books ‘One Heart One Life’ and ‘Ultimate Heart Health,’ originally written by Professor Rohan Jayasinghe aiming to educate the public on heart health and disease, were translated into Sinhala for the benefit of the Sinhala-speaking population and launched on Friday (25) at Mahaweli Centre, with Additional Secretary to Ministry of Health Janaka Sri Chandraguptha attending as the Chief Guest. 

‘One Heart One Life’ (Ekke Hadheki Ek Jeewithayaki) was translated by Dr. Piyasiri Karunathileka while ‘Ultimate Heart Health’ (Uparima Hadawath Suwayata) was translated by Dr. Sanjay Jayasinghe and Wadanambi Jayasinghe, who are Dr. Rohan Jayasinghe’s  brother and father respectively. 

Speaking at the event, Dr. Sanjay Jayasinghe noted that these are valuable books that cover all aspects of cardiac disease. They also provide advice on healthy lifestyle practices that would help keep heart disease at bay. The Sinhala translations of the books take the valuable insights and knowledge from these books and make it accessible to the local readers.

From left: Cardiologist Dr. Kanchana Singapuli, Cardiologist Dr. Chandrika Ponnamperuma, Additional Secretary to Ministry of Health Janaka Sri Chandraguptha, Professor Rohan Jayasinghe and Senior Professor Kusuma Karunaratne

“Heart disease is a leading cause of death in both the developing and developed world and today we are bombarded with information across multiple sources on just about any subject and cardiac disease is no exception. The explosion on social media with its vast information makes figuring out facts from myths a real challenge and the abundance of information can be confusing. These two books with complex medical information are presented to the reader in an easily digestible fashion,” he said. 

The two books were originally written in English by his brother Professor Rohan Jayasinghe when he was working in USA. “I never thought when these books were being written that they would ever be translated into Sinhala and be available to the masses but thankfully due to my father’s perseverance both books got translated and I’m so indebted as well as feeling fulfilled having completed the mission that I embarked on when I took on the onus of writing these books,” Professor Rohan Jayasinghe said. 

The first book was published more than a decade ago, while he was working at a hospital in New York City, USA. Sharing the background leading to the writing of the book he said, “I wrote the first book when I had just finished my doctoral thesis on cardiovascular prevention. I felt the knowledge that I gained during the research process should not be confined to myself. That is valuable information that I thought should be shared with everybody. Therefore I took on the responsibility of writing this book and it was published in New York City in 2004,” he said. 

He wrote the second book around two years ago and it was published in Australia. He spoke on the events leading to the writing of this book as well: “We treat people who come to the hospital with heart diseases and heart problems and if they leave the hospital alive it’s a huge feeling for us. As busy doctors we don’t get too much time to sit down with our patients, to share vital information that they should digest – such as after care – so that they don’t go through it again.”

Prof. Rohan Jayasinghe (right) presents the first book copy to Ministry of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Additional Secretary S. Janaka Sri Chandraguptha

“The right care, a healthy lifestyle and correct medical intervention is important and if heart disease is intervened at the right time, the patient can be saved, by lifestyle measures and correct medical therapeutic measures. Therefore I got a team of junior doctors who were working with me, to approach every patient who was treated by me after a heart attack and ask them to write down any questions that were left unanswered during the stay. This had to be done prior to discharge because after they leave it usually takes a fair while for them to come and see me again – after discharge they go back to the care of the general practitioners.

“That way I was able to accumulate in a period of six months, around 1,000 questions and then I contemplated how I can get these answers together and get it out there for these people to access it. And that is what led to the writing of the second book that was published in Australia two years ago,” he said. 

Simultaneously launching her book ‘Mul – II’, a Sinhala translation of the award-winning book ‘Roots’, was his mother Eva P. Wickramage. The original story written by American author Alex Haley was published in 1976 in the US, narrating the story of Kunta Kinte, an 18th-century African, captured as a 17-year-old and sold into slavery in the United States. The novel was followed by an adaptation into the immensely popular television series that was also aired in Sri Lanka a few years ago. 

Wickramage presents her story in two parts – the first part relates the story about the first generation of the Kunta Kinte family while the second part describes the evolution of the subsequent generations. 

Also present at the event were Cardiologists Dr. Kanchana Singapuli and Dr. Chandrika Ponnamperuma, who had reviewed the health books while Senior Professor Kusuma Karunaratne had reviewed the novel. They each spoke highly of the books. 

- Pix by Sameera Wijesinghe