Annual Research Symposium of the Faculty ofMedicine

The Annual Research Symposium of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, will be held on November 21 from 8.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the New Lecture Theatre in the faculty.

The Chief Guest will be Prof. Janaka de Silva, Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo and Senior Professor of Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya. The keynote address will be on 'Scientific Research in Sri Lanka: The Need to do Better'.

A plenary lecture titled 'Extreme Genetics, Innovation and Drug Discovery' will be delivered by Dr. Roshni R. Singaraja, Assistant Professor of the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, while the Faculty of Medicine Oration 'Trends in Suicide and Deliberate Self-Harm in Sri Lanka' will be by Prof. Varuni de Silva, Professor in Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo.

More than 50 research papers will be presented with 16 oral and 36 poster presentations. The research conducted at the Colombo Medical Faculty ranges from communicable, non-communicable and chronic diseases to molecular genetics, pharmacodynamics, pharmacogenetic, forensic analysis, ophthalmology and medical education.

South Asia's population is ageing faster than anywhere else in the world, posing challenges to planners and societies, says Nalaka Gunawardene.

Right economic and health policies, as well as changes in mindsets, can help countries turn these challenges into opportunities for human development.

Population ageing happens when older people (typically over 60) account for an increasingly large proportion of the total population. It is the result of declining fertility rates, lower infant mortality and increasing survival at older ages - all triumphs of development.

Developing Asia's population ageing broadly follows the historical pattern of countries growing older as they become richer. But it is happening at a much greater speed.

Worldwide, older people's share of population has risen sharply. In 1950, when the world's population was 2.5 billion, there were 205 million persons over 60. In 2014, there are 868 million people over 60 - nearly 12 per cent of the global population.

In the eight countries that make up South Asia, the percentage of older people in 2012 ranged from 3.8 in Afghanistan to 12.9 in Sri Lanka. India's 100 million older people make up 8 per cent of its population. All will see this share increase in the coming decades.

This demographic transition requires completely new approaches to economic planning, health care, retirement policies, living arrangements and inter- generational relations.

The good news: today's older