It’s much satisfaction and fulfillment that I write this message for the 38th Annual academic session of the College of Anaesthesiologists and Intensivists in Sri Lanka on behalf of the faculty of pain medicine. The faculty of pain medicine is the main body addressing pain problems and training pain physicians in Sri Lanka. It is a part of the College of Anaesthesiologists and Intensivists since conception.

The fact remains that pain continues to be a major health crisis and cannot be vaccinated. It is a leading cause of health care disability out of control health care cost and decrease in quality of life in our patients. It is essential to find solutions to address acute and chronic pain effectively. Chronic pain is the main health burden that is not addressed adequately in Sri Lanka. The prevalence of chronic pain is about 10% in the population and rising day by day due to increasing age and change of lifestyle.

We need to continue to develop and disseminate cost-effective alternatives to manage pain, especially chronic pain. It is essential to focus on different modalities in pain management and move forward with the rest of the world. The field of interventional pain management emerge as one of the most important disciplines in medicine today. Our mission as the faculty of pain medicine is to develop advance pain management options in Sri Lanka.

I am glad 2021 is behind and look forward to a very different pain-free 2022. You will enjoy and benefit from this multidisciplinary program and I am certain that it will enlighten the pain specialty as well.

Finally, I wish to thank all working hard to make this event successful and to improve health care service in Sri Lanka. I look forward to welcoming all delegates and a very fruitful congress this year.

Dr Lasman Dissanayaka

Head, Faculty of Pain Medicine

College of Anaesthesiologists and Intensivists of Sri Lanka