39th sessions of the Ceylon College of Physicians

The 39th academic sessions of the Ceylon College of Physicians on the theme 'Managing Dual Burden of Diseases in a low resource setting' will be held from September 28 to 30 at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel and on October 2 at the auditorium, Faculty of Medicine, Galle.

The annual event, which is the academic highlight of the year, will focus on infections and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol, etc. Explaining the theme, President of the College, Dr. M.K. Ragunathan said that in the early part of the last century, infections were the major killer. "However, unhealthy dietary habits and modern lifestyles are now taking their toll and we hope to focus on this important issue," he said.

President of the Royal College of Physicians, London, Prof. Ian Gilmore will be the Chief Guest at the event and Emeritus Professor Carlo Fonseka, the Guest of Honour at the inauguration ceremony on 28th evening. Medical professionals from US, Australia, UK, Singapore and Canada are also expected to attend. "We do not have all the resources but we need to learn how we can best manage the problems that we encounter," Dr. Ragunathan said.

Well known Diabetologist from Chennai Prof A. Ramachandran will deliver the P.B. Fernando oration titled "Primary prevention of type 2 diabetes-An Indian experience”. Prof Gilmore will deliver the Cyril Fernando oration titled "Alcohol as an exploding health hazard”. This year's E.V. Peiris oration on "Redefining the role of metabolic syndrome among Sri Lankans” is by Dr. T.P. Weeraratne.

The pre and post congress sessions to be held both in Colombo and Galle will give participants a substantial overview of Emergency Care, a new entity that has not been developed or recognized as a speciality in the country. "Conducted by the Emergency Physicians of Australia, it would focus on sensitizing our physicians and anaesthetists on the need for developing emergency care as a speciality," Dr. Ragunathan says.

The post-congress satellite session will be held in collaboration with the Galle Medical Association on October 2. The significance of this session is that the Victorian Hospital in Australia is donating a state of the art Accident and Emergency Centre in Galle.

There will be a diabetes day in the SLMA on September 27th organized by the National Diabetes Task Force at the SLMA auditorium in collaboration with the Ceylon College of Physicians where Prof. David Matthews from Oxford, U.K .and other experts from the region will be taking part. Local research on diabetes will be presented.

The academic sessions are open to all physicians and postgraduate trainees around the country.