Top honours for Dr. Ramya De Silva from Royal College of Paediatrics

Dr. Ramya De Silva, Senior Consultant Paediatrician has been elected to Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in recognition of outstanding contribution to children at their 21st anniversary celebrations held at International Conference Centre, Birmingham, UK recently.
De Silva has been working as a Consultant Paediatrician for the past 27 years including 16 years at the Lady Ridgeway Hospital for Children, Colombo. She is the Immediate past President of the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians (SLCP). During her tenure as the President SLCP, she had contributed immensely for the well-being of the children in our country.

The most outstanding contribution has been the establishment of the Neonatal Transport Service. De Silva initiated this as a pilot project in collaboration with John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK in 2012 when she was the President of the Perinatal Society of Sri Lanka. The reason to establish this service is that almost 80 percent of the deaths under the age of one year occur during the first month of life. Out of these deaths one third die due to prematurity and low birth weight. These babies need special care during transportation to a hospital where facilities are available for neonatal intensive care. Neonatal Transport Service provides the facilities of a neonatal intensive care unit during transportation.

She had worked tirelessly and with utmost dedication to bring the Neonatal Transport Service to the national level.  Sri Lanka is the first country in South Asia to establish the Neonatal Transport Service as a national service. The Health Ministry is doing this as a new development to improve the quality of care provided to the newborn to end preventable neonatal morbidity and mortality. 

Dr. Ramya de Silva contributes her knowledge and expertise at national level and holds responsible positions at many Technical Advisory Committees of the Health Ministry. She is a member of the National Council for accreditation and also a member of the committee that developed the clinical indicators to monitor healthcare quality and patient safety. De Silva is the President, Neonatal Transport Forum of Sri Lanka, President, Neonatal and Paediatric Simulation Council of Sri Lanka and President, Adolescent Healthcare Forum of the Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians.

She has contributed greatly to the undergraduate and postgraduate training, being a clinical teacher and an examiner. She has also served as a member of the Board of Study in Paediatrics, Post Graduate Institute of Medicine. She pioneered the establishment of Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians - Oxford Fellowship programme for the postgraduate trainees in paediatrics to get trained at the prestigious Oxford University Hospitals.