Dr. Dedunu Dias Weligamage joined CaHRU this January as an International Visiting Fellow from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. His interests include studying health services management and he aims to develop his skills to improve Sri Lankan health services, mainly in the field of rehabilitative services.
Dr. Weligamage received his MBBS degree from the University of Sri Jayawardanepura in 2002 and started working for the Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka as a medical officer. He pursued higher education in health management and public health and obtained a master’s degree in medical administration from the University of Colombo in 2010.
He was appointed deputy director of the Teaching Hospital, Kurunegala, the third largest teaching hospital in Sri Lanka. His 
management skills ensured the growth and development of the hospital and staff to provide safe, efficient, effective and timely care for patients. After evaluating his performance as a medical manager, he was awarded a Prestigious Leadership Scholarship of the Commonwealth Government of Australia in 2012, an accolade given to two hundred outstanding leaders in the world that year.
He obtained a Master of International Public Health and a Master of Health Management from Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. In 2016, he completed his doctoral qualification in Medical Administration at the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo, following which he was assigned as Director of the National Centre of Rheumatology and Rehabilitation, Sri Lanka.
The rehabilitation sector lags behind curative and preventive health sectors in Sri Lanka. Dr. Weligamage was able, with the help of the Ministry of Health Sri Lanka and some local and international Non-Governmental Organizations, to develop the services and improve the quality of care provided by the institution. His work was recognised by the Director General of Health Services in Sri Lanka as he mentioned the good work of Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Hospital, Ragama in his official statement during World Health Day 2018. Dr Dias was an official representative of the Government of Sri Lanka in WHO at the first global meeting on “Rehabilitation 2030 – A Call for Action” held in Geneva in 2017.
By Dr. Dedunu Dias Weligamage