President to inaugurate eHealth Asia conference in Colombo today

President Maithripala Sirisena will inaugurate the eHealth Asia 2015 Conference at 8:30 a.m. today, 13 October, at the Cinnamon Grand.

The Health Informatics Society of Sri Lanka (HISSL), with the success of its previous eHealth conferences in 2010 and 2014, decided to host an annual health informatics gathering with Asia in focus under the title eHealth Asia starting in October 2015. The conference is organised with the objective of providing a common platform to share knowledge in all aspects of health and medical informatics implementations and Information and Communication Technology innovation adoption in healthcare.

The first conference in the series will be held in Colombo on 13 and 14 October on the theme ‘ICT for Post 2015 Challenges’. The conference brings together Sri Lankan, regional and international eHealth experts, policy makers, practitioners and business solution providers. 300 delegates are expected to attend the conference. They will include doctors, nurses, other categories of health care workers, and experts in the field of information and communication technology.

The Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka is partnering with HISSL to co-organise the conference. The conference is organised in collaboration with the Asian eHealth Information Network (AeHIN) and it is webcast live to 23 countries in the Asian Region.

The conference partners include the The Global HISP Network and the Commonwealth Medical Association.

Doctors and other experts in eHealth will deliver over 50 talks at the conferences on many topics related to eHealth. Several top international experts will also address the conference. They are Prof. Sundeep Sahay a world renowned expert in eHealth from the University of Oslo, Dr. Alvin Marcello, the President of the Asian eHealth Information Network, and Mark Landry an eHealth Expert from the World Health Organisation.

Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Rajitha Senarathne, Minister of Higher Education and Highways Lakshman Kiriella and Minister of Digital Infrastructure Harin Fernando will also attend the inaugural ceremony as guests of honour.

Speaking about the conference Professor Vajira H. W. Dissanayake, the President of the Health Informatics Society of Sri Lanka, stated that eHealth Asia 2015 would be a turning point in the health care system of Sri Lanka and would accelerate the introduction of information and communication technology into every aspect of healthcare in Sri Lanka both in the public and private sectors.