The Sri Lanka College of Health Informatics (SLCHI) marked an important moment in its history with the inaugural Late Dr Saminda M. Dharmaratne Memorial Oration, delivered at the College’s Annual General Meeting on 15 December 2023. Dr Pradeep Sylva, BDS, MSc, MD, had the honour and privilege of delivering the first memorial oration, titled “Humble Beginnings Become Great Happenings.”
The oration celebrated the life, character and professional contribution of Dr Saminda Dharmaratne, a member of the pioneering first batch of the MSc in Biomedical Informatics programme. Born in Kurunegala in 1973, Dr Dharmaratne received his primary and secondary education at Maliyadeva College, where he excelled in academic and extracurricular activities and served as Head Prefect. He later entered the Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya, and graduated in 2000.
After gaining experience in medical practice within the Ministry of Health, Dr Dharmaratne developed a strong interest in digital health, particularly hospital information systems. He played an instrumental role in supporting the establishment of the MSc programme in Biomedical Informatics and became one of the early Medical Officers of Health Informatics. His work at Teaching Hospital Kandy from 2011 included supporting hospital digitalisation, strengthening networks and infrastructure, training users, and securing sustained administrative support for digital health. The oration remembered him not only for these achievements, but also for his articulate personality, creativity and ability to inspire others.
Using the theme of humble beginnings, Dr Sylva traced the growth of health informatics in Sri Lanka. He recalled the 2009 cohort of 25 medical officers and five dental surgeons who entered a new and largely uncharted discipline. Their early assignments included protecting Ministry computers, creating a database for doctors’ transfers and undertaking the data entry required to make that system operational.
Those initial efforts soon developed into nationally significant innovations. The oration highlighted the Electronic Indoor Morbidity and Mortality Report, which began in 2011 as an MSc student project to capture disaggregated hospital discharge information. It also described the Hospital Information Management System initiated at the National Cancer Institute, Maharagama, in late 2012, and the islandwide Electronic Reproductive Health Management Information System implemented through the Family Health Bureau from 2017.
Dr Sylva then connected these pioneering projects to the wider national journey: the Health Information Unit’s emergence as the focal point for digital health, the national health policy, development of national guidelines and standards, the National Digital Health Blueprint, and the vision for a National Electronic Health Record that supports continuity of care throughout life.
The presentation acknowledged the teachers, senior health leaders, professional colleagues, university partners and technical teams whose guidance and persistence helped transform experimental projects into sustainable services. Their collective work expanded a small specialist community into a connected national movement.
The inaugural memorial oration was both a tribute to a valued colleague and a record of Sri Lanka’s digital health journey. It affirmed that lasting national achievements often begin with small groups, modest resources, shared commitment and individuals such as Dr Saminda Dharmaratne, whose early work continues to influence the field.