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Sharing expertise to help people breathe
View(s):- Sri Lanka College of Pulmonologists holds ‘Respire 2024’
By Kumudini Hettiarachchi
Multi-disciplinary team work not just within hospitals but extending beyond to other hospitals within Sri Lanka and also across the seas to the region to provide good lung and thoracic care to patients.
This was what was emphasized at ‘Respire 2024’, the two-day 14th Annual Academic Sessions of the Sri Lanka College of Pulmonologists (SLCP) inaugurated last Sunday (February 18) in Colombo on the theme ‘Beyond Borders for Better Breath’.
The head-table (from left): SLCP Joint Secretary Dr. Dilesha Wadasinghe; Academic Chair Prof. Dushantha Madagedara; Guest-of-Honour & Health Secretary Dr. Palitha Mahipala; Chief Guest & Health Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana; SLCP President Dr. Bodhika Samarasekera; Prof. Athol Wells who delivered the Dr. C.G. Uragoda Oration; Guest-of-Honour Dr. Vijai Kumar; and Joint Secretary Dr. Damith Rodrigo
Explaining that the SLCP now has under its wing not only Respiratory Physicians but also Paediatric Pulmonologists and Thoracic Surgeons, President Dr. Bodhika Samarasekera, said that they have a membership of around 80 and also 25 in post-graduate training.
The inauguration was attended by Chief Guest and Health Minister Dr. Ramesh Pathirana and two Guests-of-Honour, Health Secretary Dr. Palitha Mahipala and Indian Chest Society Vice President Dr. Vijai Kumar.
Dr. Bodhika Samarasekera addressing the inauguration
The Dr. C.G. Uragoda Oration on ‘The critical importance of multidisciplinary evaluation – reflections on post-millennial medical thinking’ was delivered by Prof. Athol Wells, Professor of Respiratory Medicine, Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Trust, United Kingdom (UK).
The interactive sessions which followed on Monday and Tuesday discussed airway diseases, air pollution, pleural diseases, sleep-related matters and infectious diseases such as tuberculosis (TB) which were causing concern.
Dr. Samarasekera went onto explain that there had been poor medication compliance for TB during the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, TB is now showing a rising trend of infections, with silent community spread which needs to be halted urgently.
“With worries also being caused by infections such as COVID-19, influenza and pneumonia rampantly circulating amidst people, more and more do we see the need for a multi-disciplinary approach to patient care,” he says.
Around 300 from India, Bangladesh and Nepal, augmented by local numbers had participated in the academic sessions, while around 140 from 11 countries including Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe had been part of the International Respiratory Forum held in January.
Dr. Samarasekera reiterates that these meetings help to share knowledge which should not be restricted by borders.
Linked to the academic sessions, the college had held workshops and symposia for outstation doctors in Jaffna, Kandy and Galle. This is while world renowned specialists had conducted interventional pulmonology utilizing the bronchoscope and thoracoscope for sample-taking, diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.
The audience at the inauguration
Another interesting workshop had been pulmonary rehabilitation through a multi-disciplinary team held at the Sri Jayewardenepura University for doctors, nurses and physiotherapists.
“The need is great for such rehabilitation,” stresses Dr. Samarasekera, talking with empathy of the plight of those affected by Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD – a chronic inflammatory lung disease that causes obstructed airflow from the lungs); Bronchiectasis (a chronic lung condition where the walls of the airways widen and thicken due to inflammation and infection); and Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD – a large group of diseases that cause scarring or fibrosis of the lungs).
These people need long- term support and care including proper nutrition, regular exercise, vaccination, encouragement to quit
smoking and psychological support, he adds.
| Care beyond the walls of hospitals Focusing on the links and lobbying the SLCP is engaging in with the Health Ministry, Dr. Bodhika Samarasekera said that Sri Lanka has around 50 Respiratory Physicians from among whom 12 have left the country. “The Respiratory Physicians who have remained in Sri Lanka without leaving in search of greener pastures are serving with commitment and dedication in District General Hospitals (except in the districts of Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi) and above,” he says. Meanwhile, in a pilot project successfully implemented in Colombo, Welisara, Kandy and Galle, Respiratory Physicians have been holding Oxygen Clinics since 2023 (last year), benefiting more than 300,000 people, it is learnt. Going down a different pathway beyond hospitals, the SLCP with the Health Ministry has launched a project to distribute oxygen concentrators, donated by local and international donors, to needy patients free of charge. Similarly, the SLCP with the Health Ministry is planning to donate non-invasive ventilation therapy in the form of CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) and BiPAP (Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure) machines worth around Rs. 300,000 to needy patients. | |
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