Laboratory Services
The Laboratory in the Department of Pharmacology, perform a number of laboratory investigations as a paid service. All test results will be available the same day.
Drug Information Service
The Department of Pharmacology of the Colombo Medical Faculty, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health inaugurated a Drug Information Service and Monitoring of Adverse Drug Reactions in January 1999. This unit is named INFO-VIG.
- To provide a reliable and balanced source of drug information to health professionals
- To promote the rational use of drugs
- To promote reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADR) and to evaluate and document reported ADRs
- To provide knowledge on drugs and drug related problems to the general public and to answer their queries on drugs.
- To qualify for membership in the WHO collaborating centre for International Drug Monitoring (Uppsala Monitoring Centre)
The center is located within the department and all the senior staff members are involved in providing information as and when required.
Staff of the Centre
- Professor Priyadarshani Galappathy
- Professor Shalini Sri Ranganathan
- Professor Chamari Weeraratne (Head)
- Professor Priyanga Ranasinghe
- Dr. Chiranthi Liyanage
- Dr. Vipula Bataduwaarachchi
- Dr. Uthpali Mannaperuma
- Dr. Dhanusha Thambavita
When a question is received, the detailed query and the callers basic details are documented and a literature search is started. Answers are obtained from up-to-date medical and pharmaceutical journals, standard reference books, the Faculty’s own library and computerized on-line data bases. Details of the inquiries received and the responses provided by the centre are documented in a standard question/answer form. Each record contains the date, inquirers name and status, detailed inquiry, reply, reference/ sources used and the names of the person/s who answered the query. In most instances queries have been answered within 12 hours of receiving the query.
The centre within 2 years of its inception was successful in obtaining WHO International Monitoring Centre Uppsala, Sweden recognition for the work done in ADR monitoring and Sri Lanka was accepted as the 59 th member country of its international network in January 2000.
One of the major tasks of the Drug Information Service is the compilation of The Sri Lanka Prescriber. The Sri Lanka Prescriber is the premiere drug information bulletin in Sri Lanka which is a member of the International Society of Drug Bulletins (ISDB) and provides independent information to medical practitioners. This is a quarterly journal published by the Department of Pharmacology and the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation with a circulation of 5500 and all doctors employed by the Ministry of Health and Universities are provided copies free of charge. The Sri Lanka Prescriber which has been in continuous publication since 1993 makes a significant contribution towards dissemination of independent drug information to the prescribers in Sri Lanka and is a main function of the Drug Information Service of the Department.