Childhood Respiratory Disease Study Circle of Sri Lanka

The Childhood Respiratory Disease Study Circle of Sri Lanka was established in year 2008, to 

  • advance knowledge of and education in Paediatric Respiratory Diseases among the members of the medical profession and general public
  • facilitate research in Paediatric Respiratory Diseases, individual as well as collaborative efforts
  • promote interaction between those who are engaged in prevention, management of and research into respiratory drugs and devices.
  • function in an advisory capacity regarding guidelines as well as storage, distribution, quality control and use of respiratory drugs and devices
  • promote care and welfare of the children with respiratory diseases

Message From the Founder President of the CRDSC

It is indeed a great honour and a singular privilege to send this message to be published in the website of The Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians.

In the year 2008, interested medical personnel decided to start The Respiratory Disease Study Group to take forward the different aspects of respirology in patients of all age groups looked after by Adult Chest Physicians, Paediatricians with a special interest in childhood respiratory disorders, Family Physicians, as well as Primary Health Care Doctors. I had the pleasure and the dispensation of being the Founder President of that initiative. A notable achievement of that endeavour was to be the Sri Lankan focal point for the International Study on Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC). Our friend Dr Kirthi Gunasekara, Consultant Chest Physician, was the leading figure who played a seminal role in that enterprise. Around the time of 2007, the Adult Chest Physicians formed the Sri Lanka College of Pulmonologists and the Family Physicians with a special interest in respiratory diseases formed the Primary Care Respiratory Group of Sri Lanka. The Paediatricians with such a special interest then decided to form a similar group affiliated to the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians (SLCP) and called it the Childhood Respiratory Disease Study Circle of Sri Lanka (CRDSC).

Thus, was born this august institution directly related to undertaking continuous professional development of all medical professionals involved in childhood respiratory care and facilitating research in the field. We have had a number of symposia and seminars in different regions of the country, had slots in the Annual Scientific Congresses of the SLCP and initiated research grants for paediatric respiratory disorders, as well as awards for outstanding research in Paediatric Pulmonology.

With the commencement in 2014 of a specific sub-specialist training programme leading to Board Certification in Paediatric Pulmonology by the Board of Study in Paediatrics of the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine of the University of Colombo, we saw the recruitment of young Paediatric Pulmonologists who are ever so well equipped to take over the torch and march towards further excellence in the speciality. This would undoubtedly ensure a paradigm shift in the progress of the CRDSC as well.

In the year 2017, I was more than happy to hand over the reins of the Presidency of CRDSC to my brilliant and immensely trustworthy colleague Dr Manel Fernando, who has carried on the good work of the institution on to even greater heights. The CRDSC has honoured me with the position of being the Patron of the CRDSC from the year 2019.

I have great pleasure in wishing this organisation, the CRDSC, affiliated to the SLCP, all success in all its future activities.

Dr. B.J.C. Perera
MBBS(Cey), DCH(Cey), DCH(Eng), MD(Paed), MRCP(UK), FRCP(Edin), FRCP(Lon), FRCPCH(UK), FSLCPaed, FCCP, Hony FRCPCH(UK), Hony. FCGP(SL)
Patron - CRDSC
Founder President, Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians

Message from the Incumbent President of the CRDSC

Childhood respiratory diseases are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality all over the world and the commonest cause of hospital admissions to a paediatric ward. A group of paediatricians interested in respiratory diseases felt the need to form a separate academic body pertaining to respiratory diseases in children. As a result Childhood Respiratory Disease Study Circle (CRDSC) was formed on 9th March 2008 at the inaugural meeting under the leadership of our founder president Dr B.J.C Perera.

Our aim is to update knowledge and encourage research on respiratory of children in this country. We conducted many workshops and symposia in Colombo and other districts to update knowledge of health care professionals of this country. We have participated in scientific sessions of Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians and Sri Lanka Medical Association.

When the CRDSC was started, Paediatric Pulmonology was not even in the horizon. We are ever so pleased that we have created a legacy which we could hand over to our Paediatric Pulmonologists to take the CRDSC towards even higher levels of achievement in the future.

Together we will strive to combat Paediatric respiratory diseases in this country.

Dr. Manel Fernando
MBBS(Col), DCH, MD (Paed), MRCP (UK), FSLCPaed

Highlights from Past Years …

CRDSC has been the cornerstone in the paediatric respiratory education.

  • Education programmes including annual scientific sessions and regional meetings were conducted both physically as well as on virtual platforms targeting for the general paediatricians, paediatric trainees and doctors interested in paediatric respiratory disorders.
Pre- Congress Workshop (2022)

Paediatric Pulmonary Function Testing – With Hands on Experience

22nd April 2022

This hands on workshop was organized in collaboration with the Childhood Respiratory Disease Study Circle of Sri Lanka and conducted at the New Auditorium of the Lady Ridgeway Hospital and the Central Chest Clinic, Colombo on 22nd April 2022. This was the first workshop conducted in Sri Lanka exclusively on Paediatric Pulmonary Function Tests (PFT). Theory and practical aspects of the paediatric PFT were discussed extensively in this workshop and all the participants were given an opportunity to do and interpret their own PFT with spirometry. In addition, new PFTs available in Sri Lanka were introduced and a case discussion was conducted to emphasize the usefulness of the PFTs.

International Webinar Series – June/July 2020

In the year 2020 a series of webinars with the participation of national and international speakers were held as the annual scientific session was not a possibility with the pandemic situation.

Topic : GINA and Sri Lankan Guidelines: Reflections on the management of school age Asthma.
Dr. B.J.C. Perera resourced the first webinar on 17th June 2020

Topic: Management of Pre-School Wheeze: A Difficult Clinical Puzzle
Prof. Andrew Bush, Royal Brompton Hospital and Imperial College of London, United Kingdom

Topic : When Asthma Gets Difficult
Prof. Garry Connett, Southampton University Hospital, United Kingdom

Topic: Pediatric Bronchiectasis: A Wake-Up Call
Prof. Anne B. Chang, Queensland Children’s Hospital, Australia

 

6th Scientific Session

6th scientific session of the CRDSC was held on 6th October 2019 at Galle face hotel- Colombo with the theme of ‘Joining hands for healthy lungs in children’

Training of Trainer Program (TOT) on Childhood Tuberculosis for Consultant Pediatricians

Conducted with the collaboration of Sri Lanka College of Pulmonologists on 10th September 2019 at the Auditorium of Family Health Bureau

The Programme consisted of sessions on clinical diagnosis of Paediatric TB, diagnostic modalities of Paediatric TB, anti-Tuberculosis therapy, contact tracing, chemoprophylaxis and follow up, multi drug resistant TB, BCG vaccination and Complications, HIV and Paediatric Tuberculosis and Paediatricians’ role in Paediatric TB.

5th Scientific Sessions of CRDSC

5th Scientific sessions of CRDSC was held on 18th of February 2018 at Kingsbury Hotel with the theme of ‘Paediatric Pulmonology for Future Generations’