Date: 4th August 2022
Location: Faculty of Medical Sciences, USJ, Sri Lanka
The conference will also be live-streamed for online audiences.
Time: 07.30 – 17:30 IST / 02:00 – 12:00 UTC
4th August 2022, Thursday
07:30 Onwards | Registration
08:00 – 08:20 | Welcome & Opening Remarks
Dr Farhat Mantoo, Executive Director, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) South Asia
08:20 – 08:40 | Session 1: Oral Communications – Community health volunteer engagement during COVID-19 to reduce non-communicable disease risk in low-resource urban settings in Malaysia
Dr Ishu Kataria, Senior Public Health Researcher, Research Triangle Institute International, India
08:40 – 09:55 | Panel Discussion: Non-communicable diseases – Burden and management for Asia
Moderator: Dr Amulya Reddy, Senior NCD Advisor, MSF Holland
Dr Khaleda Islam, Strategic and Technical Advisory Group (STAG) of NCD, World Health Organisation, Bangladesh
Dr KM Saif-Ur-Rahman, Senior Research Methodologist; National University of Ireland Galway, Ireland
Dr Nalika Gunawardena, Technical Officer (NCD) at Regional Office for South East Asia, World Health Organisation, Sri Lanka
Dr Robed Amin, Director Non-Communicable Disease Control (NCDC), Govt. of Bangladesh
09:55 – 10:30 | Break
10:30 – 11:30 | Symposium: Advances in clinical medicine and healthcare
Chairpersons: Prof Bimalka Seneviratne and Prof Ramya Pathiraja
- Ischaemic heart disease: What is new?
Dr Chandrike Ponnamperuma, Consultant Cardiologist, Colombo South Teaching Hospital, Sri Lanka - Cellular therapy for haematological disorders
Prof Lalindra Gooneratne, Professor in Haematology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka - Surgical treatment in the management of endometriosis
Prof Dhammike Silva, Professor in Gynaecology & Obstetrics, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura
11:30 – 13:00 | Session 2: Oral Communications
- Identical parasitic sequences within human index cases of Brugian filariasis and animals in neighbouring areas in Sri Lanka suggest zoonosis
S. Nirmalrathna, PhD Scholar, Centre for Biotechnology, Department of Zoology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenpura, Sri Lanka - Kadamjay Area Biomonitoring (KAB) Study; assessing human exposure to environmental contamination in Kadamjay, Kyrgyzstan.
S. Aiylchiev, Project Medical Referent, MSF Kyrgyzstan - Climate Afflictions
Wameq A. Raza, Health and Nutrition Specialist – World Bank’s Health, Nutrition, and Population Global Practice, Bangladesh
Iffat Mahmud, Senior Operations Officer -World Bank’s Health, Nutrition, and Population Global Practice, Bangladesh - Persistence of Poecilia reticulataat different chlorine levels in Mannar and Jaffna, Sri Lanka; A challenge in Anopheles stephensi control
P.J. Jude, Senior Lecturer at Department of Zoology, The Open University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
13:00 – 13:45 | Lunch Break
13:45 – 15:00 | Session 3: Oral Communications
Chairperson: Dr Chamil Marasinghe and Prof Manori Gamage
- Health-related quality of life in patients on maintenance hemodialysis; a descriptive study in two in-center dialysis units at a major tertiary care medical institution in Sri Lanka
- Barriers and facilitators for weight reduction in obese young adults in an urban setting: A qualitative study
- Postpartum weight retention and factors associated with postpartum weight retention in mothers attending child welfare clinics in a selected medical officer of health area, Colombo district
- Taxonomic identification key to scrub typhus vector chigger mites in Sri Lanka
- The effect of Sri Lankan Apis cerana (bee) honey on selected wound pathogens
- Prevalence of toxoplasmosis among a selected group of cancer patients at Apeksha hospital, Maharagama, Sri Lanka
- Experts’ agreement on the usability and features of a web-based tool in promoting flipped classroom pedagogy
15:00 – 16:00 | Symposium: Keeping children safe, together
Chairpersons: Prof Guwani Liyanage and Prof Sanjaya Hulathduwa
- Provision of services for children who have faced violence
Prof Asvini Fernando, Professor in Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya - Medico-legal aspects of management of child abuse and neglect
Prof Muditha Vidanapathirana, Professor of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura - Child abuse in Sri Lanka: Gaps in the legal framework and social implications
Ms Lasanthi Daskon, Attorney-At-Law, Deputy Country Director, IFES
16:00 – 16:15 | Keynote address: Climate crisis, health and humanitarian action: Why it matters to MSF?
Dr Maria Guevara, International Medical Secretary, MSF
16:15 – 17:15 | Panel Discussion: Climate crisis and disease burden
Moderator: Dr Farhat Mantoo, Executive Director, MSF South Asia
Prof Neelika Malavige, Head of Dengue Global Programme and Scientific Affairs, India
Dr Poornima Prabhakaran, Deputy Director, Centre for Environmental Health- Public Health Foundation of India, India
Dr Adil Najam, Professor and Dean Emeritus Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies Boston University, USA
17:15 – 17:30 | Award ceremony and concluding remarks
Disclaimer: The agenda is subject to change.
