WORLD RENOWNED LIVER TRANSPLANT SPECIALIST WILLING TO OFFER SERVICES TO SL

Wants Government to provide infrastructure facilities

The world’s most successful and pioneer liver transplant specialist, Professor Mohamed Rela says that he and his medical team are ready to perform liver transplants on patients in Sri Lanka if the Sri Lankan Government provides necessary infrastructure. Professor Rela pointed out that the Sri Lankan Government should make a formal invitation to him and his medical team under a proper system in that regard. Professor Mohamed Rela said that he would be able to launch such a successful liver transplant programme here with the assistance of the local doctors soon after such an invitation was extended to him by the Sri Lankan Government.

Professor Rela was addressing a meeting of specialist doctors who were treating patients suffering from liver related diseases, held at Shangri-la hotel in Colombo last week. The meeting of specialist doctors was organised by the Dr. Rela Institute and Medical Centre in Chennai. Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, Dr. Rajitha Senarathna participated as the chief guest.

Addressing the gathering, Professor Mohamed Rela further said that Sri Lanka had talented doctors, therefore, with the assistance of such specialists, he would be able to launch a broad programme to perform liver transplants in Sri Lanka. Dr Rela is the Professor of the Faculty of Liver Transplants, Kings College, Great Britain.

According to the opinion of International Health Organisations, the highest number of most successful liver transplants had been performed in the world by Professor Mohamed Rela.

A co-ordinating office of Dr. Rela Institute and Medical Centre Hospital was established in Sri Lanka.

Professor Rela further expressed his views during his speech that said: “We have been working with Sri Lankan doctors for the last ten years. Sri Lankan doctors are equally talented to that of their Indian counterparts. That is the major reason for me to decide to work with them. We were able to perform successful liver transplant surgery on over one hundred Sri Lanka patients who had suffered from Cirrhosis during the last ten years. The post- treatment is made by Sri Lankan doctors”.

“I have been working with a team of most talented doctors in the world who have been trained liver transplant surgery by the Kings College in Great Britain. It is no secret that Dr. Rela Institute and Medical Centre is the only fully-fledged hospital in the Asian region. It has 14 theatres equipped with state of the art facilities and 130-bed Intensive Care Unit. I have performed nearly five thousand liver transplant surgeries during my three decade of medical profession. It is a record. I was ambitious to give a new life to Cirrhosis patients who were haplessly awaiting death. It was a raucous and uphill task. However, I achieved the goal and, at the end, it brought new hope to the patients who were lying in death bed,” he said

“My medical team and I are ready to help Sri Lanka. The doctors attached to Dr. Rela Institute and Medical Centre have already launched liver transplant programmes in several countries in the world. For instance, Oman is one such country. A team of our doctors goes to Oman and perform liver transplant surgery. I would like to implement such a long term programme in Sri Lanka as well.we will be able to share our knowledge accordingly. Not only that, we will be able to exchange technology. Sri Lankan Government has only one thing to do, that is to provide us the necessary infrastructure and extend our medical team a formal invitation under a systematic criterion”.dr.rela said.

Professor Rela further said that his medical team was ready to assist Sri Lanka in performing liver transplant locally in the event the Sri Lankan Government provided such an opportunity.

Addressing the gathering, Minister of Health Dr Rajitha Senarathana said he appreciated the service already extended by Professor Mohamed Rela to Sri Lanka. He said liver transplant surgery was launched in Sri Lanka in 2015 and, steps had been taken to strengthen the programme further.

Sri Lankan Government has only one thing to do, that is to provide us the necessary infrastructure and extend our medical team a formal invitation under a systematic criterion

Deputy Health Minister Faizal Caseem, Liver Transplant specialist Surgeon of Dr. Rela Institute and Medical Centre of India Dr. Gomathy Narasimhan, Liver disease specialist Dr. Dinesh Jothimani, Liver Transplant specialist Surgeon, Dr. Naresh Shanmugam, Liver Transplant specialist Surgeon of Sri Lanka Dr Rohan Siriwardana, Hephatologist specialist Dr Anuradha Dasanayake, Prof. Shaman Rajindrajith Department of Paediatrics, University of Colombo, and several other doctors were present.

Head of the Sri Lanka Representative Office at Dr. Mohamed Rela Hospital, Mr. FMA Riaz and, a group of Sri Lankan patients on whom Professor Mohamed Rela had performed liver transplants in India also participated.