Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come – Victor Hugo
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n the mid 1980s the State Television started featuring a young psychiatrist whose striking presence and intellectual vibrancy saw him carving an iconic niche for himself on screen. In no time this young professor became the most sought after personality for television programmes on medical issues.
His forte was elucidating complex theories into simple aphorisms; his cause – making Sri Lanka an alcohol, tobacco and dangerous drug free nation.
The impact this young psychiatrist had on television, and later on print media, was such that he almost had a cult following especially among the educated youth. Medical Students and thousands of school children from all corners of the country rallied around his den, the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) to fight the ills that retarded the country’s growth.
For thirty years, initially from the front and later behind the curtains, Dr Diyanath Samarasinghe led a movement that never took a proper break
The young campaigners he mentored as college and university students have today become fully fledged professionals. His kitchen cabinet comprising a group of patriotic doctors and activists continue to oil the wheels of his campaign with decisive, strategic moves at both political and community level.
For those who were privy to the pragmatism of Dr. Samarasinghe’s team to churn out good results, the Friday’s landmark Supreme Court ruling that upheld 60% pictorial warning slapped on the Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC), does not come as a surprise.With right legal intervention the anti-tobacco campaigners struck gold.
The face of Sri Lanka’s anti-tobacco and Alcohol campaign may change from time to time.Besides the core team, various individuals including politicians and
professionals and interest groups surfaced depending on the geo-political dynamics. A few had made lasting impacts.
Professor Nandadasa Kodagoda, Professor Carlo Fonseka and Olcott Gunasekara were among the slew of personalities who contributed to this cause. Besides, the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) put its weight behind the movement by way of bringing the bill that paved the way for the setting up of the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA). It was under the NATA Act that the pictorial warning was propagated later.
By incorporating an anti-tobacco campaign as part of his manifesto and later providing the institutional backing for it, President Mahinda Rajapaksa along with Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena facilitated the cause. Along with the government the opposition led by the United National Party (UNP) voted in favour of the pictorial warning in Parliament.
Besides an assortment of groups including the Buddhist clergy led by Malwatte and Asgiriya Prelates and the Catholic Church have been assisting the core team.
President’s Counsel and longtime campaigner of the anti-tobacco movement Manohara De Silva made the right intervention at a time when his services were almost essential.A bouquet of flowers also to the WHO team in Sri Lanka headed by affable Dr. F.R. Mehta.
The whole campaign which included the networking of dozens and dozens of individuals had been a time consuming and tedious task that often tested the tempers of those who worked from behind - the Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC) and the Expert Committee on Tobacco and Alcohol of the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA).
These two entities with their seasoned campaigners of the cause shouldered the bulk of the work load.
ADIC Executive Director Pubudu Sumanasekara and his team and the key members of SLMA expert committee including Dr. Sajeeva Ranaweera, Dr. Manoj Fernando and Dr. Mahesh Rajasuriya who also doubles up as ADIC Chairman, are seeing the results of years of hard work.
Dr. Diyanath Samarasinghe, your team has certainly done you proud.
