Message from the Director

Tuberculosis (TB) infection is an enormous health burden and a leading cause of mortality worldwide Globally, about two billion people are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis; 8 to 10 million develop active disease and two million die every year. About 10% of people infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis will develop active TB and become ill during their lives while in others the infection becomes latent. It is necessary to correctly diagnose both active TB and latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in order to achieve the End TB target by 2035 as proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and reduce TB incidence by 95% as compared to 2015.

The incidence of tuberculosis is increasing in Sri Lanka, especially in the western province and it is a significant public health problem in Sri Lanka. With the growing need for TB diagnosis in the country and the need for more research and education in the discipline of tuberculosis (at both undergraduate and postgraduate level), a center of excellence, dedicated to TB diagnosis and education is essential.

We have set up a Center for TB Diagnosis & Education with Molecular Diagnostic Facilities at the UCFM Tower, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo. It is a joint venture between the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo and the National Programme for Tuberculosis Control and Chest Diseases (NPTCCD), Ministry of Health (MOH) on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo.

At present the Centre for TB Diagnosis and Education provides the TB diagnostic services free of charge to all the patients from government hospitals/ clinics and to the private sector on request.

The centre also conducts Diploma and Certificate Courses for the health care workers. The TB Diagnostic Centre is self-funded and functions by utilizing the generated funds of the Diploma and Certificate courses. Many consultant specialists from the Ministry of Health and from the Universities serve as resource persons for these Diploma and Certificate courses.

Dr. Nilanthi Senanayake

MBBS, Diploma (Medical Microbiology), MD (Medical Microbiology)
Consultant Medical Microbiologist and Senior Lecturer
Director
Center for Tuberculosis (TB) Diagnosis & Education
Faculty of Medicine
University of Colombo