Urology was established as a specialty in Sri Lanka in 1954 when Dr George Nelson Perera who started his career as a general surgeon and returned to the country after overseas training and appointed as the genitourinary surgeon of the General hospital Colombo (Now the National Hospital of Sri Lanka). He concentrated mainly on open urological procedures and endoscopy was reserved mainly as a diagnostic procedure. As experienced by his western counterparts he also faced a fair degree of resistance from the general surgeons who shared a similar practice and did not like the idea of parting with it. It was legendary that they even went to the extent of seeking legal assistance against Dr Perera for including hydrocelectomy in his range of procedures. They were bitterly convinced at a court of law by Dr Perera that "anything hanging between the thighs in a male fall within the range of a genitourinary surgeon" His ward strength was a mere 10 beds and he had to share operating time with the general surgeons and obstetricians.

Despite this resistance, his followers Drs L S Attygalle, L M Perera and A M Beligaswatte carried the baton forwards. They were also general surgeons who were converted into being Genitourinary Surgeons by spending a period of specialized training at esteemed urological institutions in the UK such as the Institute of Urology, London. After having returned to the country they occupied urology departments in Colombo and Kandy. During their carrier transurethral resection surgery was introduced and developed which helped tremendously to get specialty recognition. Their skills in handling more complicated urological procedures and certain conceptual changes in the management of urological disease increased the respect towards the specialty. The only drawback was the unbearable work load they had to carry over the next 30 years which automatically led to lack of progress in introduction of rapidly advancing technology in Urology and development of research. The only additional advanced technique introduced during this period was ESWL in 1992.

The third generation of urologists emerged from 1988 through the then newly formed Postgraduate Institute of Medicine (PGIM) of the University of Colombo which introduced a more formal and structured supervised training programmes similar to those in the UK with an exit examination - the MS and Now MD (Surgery). Thereafter Urology was taken up as a carrier by training for three years (2 years locally and one-year mandatory period in a centre of excellence abroad - usually in the UK).

The first trio to select urology as a career under this new scheme was Drs S A S Goonewardena, Neville D Perera and P G D S Samaraweera who stepped into the boots of their predecessors. Identifying the needs of the country with a population of 20 million people and the scarcity of specialists in urology, more and more postgraduate surgical trainees were attracted to take up urology as a career under the mentorship of these trainers and during next one and a half decades these trainers have managed to train over 15 fully fledged consultant urologists who have opened up several urology units outside the two main cities introducing the service of the specialty to peripheries of the country. While majority of young urologists returned to the country to extend their skills to serve in the public sector, some of them have decided to remain in the greener pastures of the west; a few have joined the universities in Lanka and some have joined the private sector is expanding rapidly.


The development of urological services with introduction of modern minimally invasive skills were rapidly introduced to Sri Lankan Urology practice centred at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka which included advanced video end urological surgery such as percutaneous renal surgery, ureterorenoscpic procedures, advanced urodynamics and a wide range of reconstructive urological procedures which were rarely considered in the bygone era. By the end of the first decade of the new millennium, laser urological treatment for prostate and stones and advanced urological laparoscopy was introduced and developed at National Hospital of Sri Lanka.


While technical advances were introduced, the most significant in the history of urology is the formation of Sri Lanka Association of Urological Surgeons (SLAUS) in December 1999 by Drs S A S Goonewardene, Neville D Perera and Anura P Wijewardena. The membership of this specialist Association includes full time urologists and clinicians in other specialties with a special interest in urology. With an initial membership of 9 it has now it has grown to 35. SLAUS obtained the membership of UAA in 2003 and soon thereafter began actively participating in UAA meetings and conferences.

SLAUS has organized several academic events which included live demonstration workshops, symposia in scientific sessions of sister colleges, regular postgraduate training programmes, and quarterly CME programmes for members mostly based in Colombo and Kandy. Live demonstration workshops with the participation of eminent international faculty such as Dr Mike Kellart (UK) on PCNL; Drs Sanjay Kulkami, C Mallikarjuna and Rajeev Kumar (India) for Uro Laparoscopy; Dr Gordon Muir (London) on Laser prostatectomy; Dr Graham Watson from (UK) on Uretrorenoscopic intrarenal laser surgery); and Dr Andrea Cerasoli (Italy) on female pelvic reconstruction. With their contributions many of the modern minimally invasive urological procedures were established in the local urological practice which made Sri Lankan urology to be on par with those in the region.

The commencement of annual scientific sessions in 2005 by SLAUS was a landmark event and several guest lecturers led by Professor K.T. Foo (Singapore) from UAA contributed immensely to the success of the inaugural sessions. Since then, in the years to follow the SLAUS Annual Sessions have been held in December of every year with the participation of guest lecturers from India, Italy and UK. The joint meeting held with the Urology Section of the Royal Society of Medicine (UK) was a grand event as part of the 10th Anniversary Annual Sessions of SLAUS held in 2009. This year the Annual Sessions feature 4 pre-congress workshops (one exclusively for urology and surgical nurses) and an academic meeting with international and local faculty.

Another academically important event is the publication of the Sri Lanka Journal of Urology (SLJU) as the official publication of the Association since year 2000 under the editorship of Dr S A S Goonewardene which has opened a golden path for urological research and publication in Sri Lanka.

SLAUS has also played a pivotal role in introducing urology in the undergraduate and postgraduate curricula as a specialty subject. For the first time in undergraduate training a "Urology clinal appointment "and Urology-Nephrology module has been introduced in Sri Lanka. It has been made obligatory for the Pre MD/MS (Surgery) postgraduates to complete a Urology-Renal transplantation attachment in a recognized local urology department. Urology is fast evolving in Si Lanka with increasing numbers of specialist urologists, advances in the technology and the reach out to the population in all parts of the country.

Up to 2019, SLAUS had very successful annual meetings. From the beginning a tradition was begun in having a SLAUS lecture which was generally delivered by a member of the international faculty at the inauguration ceremony. This continues to date. The concept of invited lectures and symposia were introduced and soon became regular fixtures. The two notable international collaborators for joint symposia were USI and BAUS.

During the time of the covid pandemic global trend was to go virtual. SLAUS braved the adverse times in conducting SLAUS annual meeting virtually in 2020 and as hybrid in 2021. Once the covid scare started to fade away, the 2022 meeting took place in person with recorded lectures from speakers who could not travel from overseas.

Year 2023 marks a leap jump in the affairs of the association as it is busy preparing to host the 3rd SAUS congress in the capital city in November 2023. A star panel of international resource persons are firm in their plans to visit Sri Lanka during the meeting. Presidents of many collaborating associations regionally and globally have expressed their strong desire to join Sri Lankan urologists at the meeting.

In addition to the annual conference, the year planner of the association is studded with several ongoing academic activities with balanced socialising events. Tri Monthly Academic Meetings (TRAM), Urology Meetings for Trainees (UROMET), 'Best of SLAUS' surgery workshops, master class with experts are carried out throughout.

Increasing influence of SLAUS in the health care delivery services in Sri Lanka has made many members to work with state agencies. 2022 was a watershed year for SLAUS academic. An exit exam in urology was held that year in collaboration of the CSSL with direct supervision from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. Second diet of the test would take place in the near future.

After the demise of first three urological surgeons of Sri Lanka, SLAUS commenced three orations to celebrate their life and times. Inaugural orations in all three have already taken place.

SLAUS moved into its own office at the Institute of Urology in the National Hospital of Sri Lanka in 2022 and currently manned by an administrative assistant. In 2023 SLAUS was awarded slaus.lk domain to host the website and the payment gateway.

 

This year marks the 25th Anniversary of the Association. To commemorate this significant milestone, year around academic and training activities are being implemented. The culmination of the celebration will be the much awaited 25th Anniversary International Urology Conference slated for November 2024 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.