AuSLMAT in Sri Lanka:

Australian aid to SL hospitals

The Australia-Sri Lanka Medical Aid Team (AuSLMAT) will visit Sri Lanka on June 7, 2011 to provide assistance to Sri Lanka's hospitals.

They will visit the Ampara hospital for three days and work at the Karapitiya, Galle and Matara hospitals from June 13.

Two hundred and ninety three items, including eight ECG machines and an echocardiograph machine have been loaded to a 40 ft container that leaves Melbourne this week. Hospitals at Negombo, Ampara, Matara and Galle will receive these medical equipment donated by hospitals in Melbourne including the Alfred and Peter Mac Cancer hospital.

Glucometers and Uristix and other drugs have been included in the container.

'Interventional Cardiology' will be the theme of Dr. Omar Farouque's address to the Galle Medical Society. Dr. Omar and Dr. Jennifer will do angioplasty and stenting of coronary arteries with Dr. Ranji Madurawe from June 13 to 17. Twenty one cardiac patients have already been booked in for that week. Guide wrires, cardiac catheters and stents will be brought from Melbourne. Hospitals in southern Sri Lanka will send cardiac patients to Karapitiya for further investigation and treatment.

AuSLMAT will also visit the Matara hospital on June 15 and conduct general medical clinics at Beralihela on Thursday (16) and Galbokka-Weligama on Friday (17). Coralie Cross, a diabetic educator, will be part of the team who will conduct teaching sessions at all the hospitals and clinics.

The Karapitiya hospital now has a new Emergency Trauma Centre with twenty five beds - funded by the Victorian government.

The Alfred hospital in Melbourne has contributed staff and expertise to this project.