Jan 27, Colombo: The Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) plans to launch a program to draw the medical doctors who have left country for overseas opportunities, the newly elected president of the Association Prof. Vajira Dissanayake has said.

Prof. Dissanayake said SLMA, the oldest professional medical association in Sri Lanka, will establish branches in countries across the globe to bring together the expatriate medical professionals.

The SLMA says it also plans to aggressively attract the Sri Lankan expatriate medical diasporas in the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand as well as other countries to its meetings in the future to make Sri Lanka a regional hub for medical conferences.

To mark its 125th anniversary, the SLMA is organizing a series of Seminars Island wide with the aim to uplift the standard of the medical field of the country. The first of this series will be held today with the participation of Minister of Health Maithreepala Sirisena, national news agency Lankapuvath reported.

The SLMA will hold its first regional meeting in Jaffna in collaboration with the Jaffna Medical Association from 27th - 29th January 2012 with the participation of Minister of Health Maithreepala Sirisena.