Dr Ravini De Silva Karunathilake
Consultant Respiratory Physician
NHSL / CCC
Colombo

The President’s Message

It is a great privilege and an honor to address you as the president of the Sri Lanka College of Pulmonologists for the year 2022 - 2023.

I’d like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all members of the Sri Lanka College of Pulmonologists for placing their trust and confidence in electing me as the president of this institution. I would also like to thank the immediate past President Dr. Geethal Perera and his council and all other past presidents for their contribution to the college and its membership.

I think it is reasonable to say that the pandemic has posed the greatest medical challenge witnessed in our lifetime. It unleashed a worldwide health crisis that impacted our profession in ways none of us could have previously imagined. It has undoubtedly put to test our healthcare standards and the socio-economic well-being of our country. We gratefully acknowledge our members and colleagues; as front-liners who rose to the occasion to care for those afflicted with COVID-19 with such bold selflessness.

As we navigate into post-COVID era, we will take with us the lessons from the past two years adding new perspective and insight to address novel challenges head-on, while honing our approach towards all respiratory diseases including common problems like Respiratory Infections, Asthma and COPD.

During my tenure as president, the enthusiastic new council and myself hope to take necessary steps to further improve on holistic care for patients with respiratory diseases, strengthen the nationwide service, provide advocacy for respiratory medicine amongst all stakeholders and to strengthen our global affiliations.

I look forward to the support and cooperation of all members as we herald a new era of our services as a college to the academia, to our patients, and the general public.