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Prof. Lamabadusuriya honoured with lifetime achievement award and induction into Hall of Fame of College of Paediatricians

Published

11 months ago

2025/06/12

Prof. Lamabadusuriya receiving the award from Dr. Dumindu Samarasinghe, President of the Sri Lanka College of Padediatricians

(Citation presented by Dr B. J. C. Perera on 08^th June 2025 at the Inauguration Ceremony of the Annual Congress of the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians.)

Ladies and Gentlemen, this year, the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians has commenced a new enterprise. It is the inauguration of a Lifetime Achievement Award with automatic Induction into the Hall of Fame of the college. Our college is the very first medical academic organisation in Sri Lanka to commence such an award of unrestrained splendour.

At the Council Meeting of the College on the 11^th of April 2025, a name was proposed for this award. It was approved unanimously. That laureate is Professor Sanath Punsara Lamabadusuriya. Providing a citation for him is perhaps akin to taking coal to Newcastle, as the man and his achievements are well-known. I will only attempt to provide a bird’s-eye view of the person to suit this formal occasion.

In the year 49 BC, the uncrowned Roman Emperor Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River with his army, and loudly exclaimed in Latin, “Alea iacta est,” which means “the die has been cast.” Sanath, when you were born on the 30^th of December 1942, to a family with the surname starting with “Lama“, meaning ‘child’, the die was indeed cast. Destiny had perhaps decreed that you would become a Paediatrician; a calling which started your long road to undisputed fame.

Sanath Lamabadusuriya, a 20-year-old Royalist, entered the Colombo Medical Faculty in 1962, not as a future prodigy but as a bit of a dark horse. Then, in their final MBBS Examination in 1967, the guy bloomed, overtook everybody else, secured 2^nd Class Honours with Distinctions in Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynaecology and was placed first in the combined order of merit of those who qualified from Peradeniya and Colombo, the only two Faculties of Medicine in Sri Lanka at that time.

The man dreamed big, but he had to prove himself, before others determined that he really belonged. In a glorious career, he has secured DCH(England), MRCP(UK), FRCP(London), FRCP(Edinburgh), FRCP(Glasgow), FRCPCH(UK), Honorary FRCPCH(UK), FCCP, FSLCPaed, Honorary FCGP(SL), and most importantly, PhD (London), and DSc (Ruhuna). The jewel in the crown was the receipt from Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the MBE, the Membership of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. He is the first clinician in Sri Lanka to secure a PhD by a research thesis and the only Sri Lankan domiciled in Sri Lanka in the modern era, to receive a Royal Honour from Great Britain. He was the Chair Professor of Paediatrics in Ruhuna and Colombo and retired on the 30^th of September 2008. However, he did not stop there. He stepped in when there was a lack of teaching staff in the newer universities and continues to teach as a Visiting Professor in the Universities of Rajarata and Sabaragamuwa. This is his 56^th year as a medical teacher. All in all, he has taught in four Medical Faculties in Sri Lanka and one Foreign University in Saudi Arabia while he was on Sabbatical Leave. He gave away his capital freely, not monetary wealth, but the wealth of knowledge. His students would even worship the ground he walks on. To top it all, he was the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, from 2002 to 2005 and the Chairman of the Board of Study in Paediatrics of the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine of the University of Colombo, continuously from 1991 to 2002.

Just for the record, he has made numerous scholarly discourses, delivered many Invited Plenary Lectures, presented 3 scientific orations, as well as 2 landmark invited addresses, and published over 140 peer-reviewed research articles in journals. He has not sat back on his laurels even after his PhD.

Professor Lamabadusuriya was the President of the Sri Lanka Paediatric Association, the forerunner of our college, in 1993, and I was the Honorary Secretary under him. The man gave me a free hand to do whatever had to be done. He had a very successful year in office as the President.

In recognition of his services to Paediatrics, the Association of Pediatric Societies of the South-East Asian Region (APSSEAR), which later became the Asia Pacific Pediatric Association (APPA), honoured him with the “Outstanding Paediatrician of Asia” title in 1997. He was the President of the very same Asia Pacific Pediatric Association (APPA) from 2006 to 2009. There are a whole host of other achievements which I am not able to present here, purely due to limitations on time.

Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am 5 years younger and 3 years junior to him in service. We have been virtual contemporaries and know each other very well. Behind his back, of course, I call him “The King”, or “Raja Thuma“. Sanath and I have been close friends, but that rapport is kind of a quaint but strange alliance, thriving in accord, as well as in discord. We have openly argued about many things, even in public, but we have never raised our voices against each other, as we believe that reasoning and courage do not have to reach higher decibel levels. If I provided evidence to support a stance I took, he would accept it, and I reciprocated in the same manner. Over the years, we have tacitly and implicitly, agreed even to disagree, without being disagreeable.

Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Professor Sanath Punsara Lamabadusuriya, by his supreme contribution to child healthcare in Sri Lanka, undeniably deserves this honour. It is the ultimate accolade, designed and commissioned to reflect our respect, symbolise our admiration, and convey our superlative appreciation for his commitment to Paediatrics in Sri Lanka. It is also a notable feather in the cap of our college to have someone like him as the inaugural recipient of this award.

Mr President, I am definitely over the moon to present my close friend, the Good Professor, for the conferment of this unique, pivotal and priceless tribute.

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Govt. assures UN of readiness to introduce ‘vetting process’ for troops on overseas missions

Published

10 hours ago

2026/04/28

Sahan Weerasooriya

Thuyakontha

Defence Secretary (retd.) Air Marshal Sampath Thuyakontha has discussed with UN officials in New York the deployment of Sri Lankan troops in Haiti, under a new UN authorised force, tasked with tackling heavily armed gangs operating in the violence ravaged country.

The UN is in the process of building up a force comprising approximately 5,500 officers and men for deployment in Haiti.

The Sri Lankan delegation included Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN, former Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya. The UN has tagged the deployment Gang Suppression Force (GSF).

According to the Defence Ministry, Sri Lanka negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding the GSF. Although Sri Lanka has contributed to UN-led missions, the proposed deployment differed due to the nature of the operation, sources told The Island.

The delegation has assured that all personnel, assigned for UN missions, including the proposed GSF deployment in Haiti, would be subjected to a comprehensive screening process, in line with UN standards. War-winning Sri Lanka has declared, in New York, that the country was in the process of developing, what the Defence Ministry here called, National Human Rights Vetting Mechanism in consultation with the UN Resident Coordinator in Colombo.

The US has backed the deployment of Sri Lankan troops under UN command. Various interested parties, over the years, protested against the deployment of Sri Lankan troops on the basis of unsubstantiated war crimes allegations.

Thuyakontha has assured that troops would maintain highest standards of discipline during overseas missions. Sri Lanka brought the war here to a successful conclusion in May 2009 against predictions of contrary outcome by so-called experts.

The US and Panama proposed the GSF to replace a Kenya-led multinational force undermined by a lack of funding. Its strength hovered around 1,000, rather than the desired 2,500. The U.N. Security Council authorised the 5,500 strong force on September 30, 2025, with the new power to arrest gang members.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

News

Lawyers cannot be denied right to represent a suspect – Udaya

Published

10 hours ago

2026/04/28

Sahan Weerasooriya

Sallay

Sallay’s case:

Attorney-at-law Udaya Gammanpila yesterday (27) said a lawyer could not be deprived of his or her right to represent a client.

The former Minister and leader of Pivuthuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) Gammanpila said so addressing the media at the party headoffice at Pita Kotte. Gammanpila was responding to recent media reports that he had been prohibited from representing retired State Intelligence Service (SIS) Chief Maj. Gen. Suresh Sallay. Therefore, there was absolutely no basis for claims that he had been barred from meeting the retired officer, now named the third suspect in the Easter Sunday case, the ex-parliamentarian said.

Gammanpila emphasised that in terms of the Constitution a suspect’s right to be represented by a lawyer was recognised as a fundamental right. The Criminal procedure Code, too, guaranteed the suspect’s right to consult a lawyer, the ex-lawmaker said, pointing out that the Judicial Organisation Act underscored the same.

Declaring that the retired officer’s wife had named him as Sallay’s lawyer in a letter addressed to Director, CID, Gammanpila said that the courts, police and the Attorney General’s Department couldn’t under any circumstances interfere with his right to represent Sallay.

The CID arrested Sallay on 25 February and detained him under Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for a period of 90 days. Sallay has filed a writ petition before the Court of Appeal through his lawyers, challenging his arrest and detention by the CID under the PTA.

Former Minister Gammanpila said that even if a Magistrate had the power to prohibit a lawyer from representing a particular suspect, such a course of action couldn’t be resorted to without giving the lawyer concern an opportunity to explain his/her actions.

Declaring that in case of misconduct on the part of a lawyer only the Supreme Court could take disciplinary action, the PHU leader said, adding that he sought a certified copy of the proceedings of the day when a section of the media reported the Magistrate’s declaration of the purported ban. Gammapila said that he was really keen to know what happened during the proceedings on that day.

Sallay served as Director, Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) from 2012 to 2016 and received the appointment as head of SIS following the 2019 presidential election. Sallay held that appointment till early October, 2024.

Gammanpila said that he couldn’t be barred for speaking to the media after meeting Sallay, currently held under PTA, or for authoring a book on the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage. According to Gammanpila as long as the suspect had no objections to his lawyer sharing some information with the media it shouldn’t be an issue for Additional Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

News

Police seek Interpol help to probe monks nabbed with narcotics at BIA

Published

10 hours ago

2026/04/28

Sahan Weerasooriya

Police investigating the thwarted a bid made by 22 Buddhist monks to smuggle in narcotics, with a street value of Rs 660 mn via BIA, from Thailand, over the weekend, believe the monks who organised the clandestine operation had sent groups of monks to Thailand before.

Sources said that they had brought in narcotics on earlier occasions.

Police have seized the mobile phones used by the suspects and sought INTERPOL assistance.

Earlier, the Negombo Magistrate’s Court remanded those 22 monks, arrested in connection with the largest drug bust in the airport’s history.

The monks were produced before the Negombo Magistrate’s Court and ordered to be held in custody until 02 May, as investigations continue into the alleged smuggling operation and any wider networks involved.

However, other sources said that more than 110 kilogrammes of suspected Kush and Hashish, with an estimated street value exceeding Rs 1.1 billion, had been found, concealed in false-bottoms of their suitcases. The bags reportedly packed with school supplies and sweets are said to have contained over five kilogrammes of narcotics per individual.

The arrests followed a raid by the Police Narcotics Bureau on Saturday night. Investigators have also recovered mobile phone evidence indicating that the group had travelled to Bangkok on 22 April using airline tickets allegedly given by a sponsor. Authorities allege that the suspects were photographed in civilian clothing, while overseas, engaging in activities deemed suspicious.

Police say this marks the first reported instance of a large-scale narcotics operation via the airport involving Buddhist monks. The suspects are young monks from different parts of the country.

By Norman Palihawadana