Major efforts by DASL to keep silent killer at bay It has not come out of the blue but with much planning, like the Diabetes Association of Sri Lanka (DASL) has been doing since its inception to keep at bay the silent killer that is diabetes. While the Lotus Tower standing like a sentinel over [...]
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It has not come out of the blue but with much planning, like the Diabetes Association of Sri Lanka (DASL) has been doing since its inception to keep at bay the silent killer that is diabetes.
While the Lotus Tower standing like a sentinel over Colombo was illuminated blue by the Deputy Minister of Health, Dr. Hansaka Wijemuni, at 6 last night on the advocacy of DASL, the Colombo Municipal Council too glowed blue. This was as during the day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., DASL teams held an extensive free health screening programme at the Kalutara Bodhiya.
These activities were to mark World Diabetes Day which was yesterday (November 14) and celebrates the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with John MacLeod, Charles Best and James Collip in 1922.
The Lotus Tower lighting up ceremony was attended by Dr. Wijemuni as Chief Guest; the Chairman of the Lotus Tower, Shirantha Pieris, as Guest of Honour; and DASL’s Board of Trustees, Executive Board and special guests who have been donors.
Dr. Mahen Wijesuriya is DASL’s Hon. Secretary and Hon. Director of the National Diabetes Centre, DASL’s clinical arm, while DASL’s Vice President is Dhanya Wijesuriya.
With 1 in 5 people in Sri Lanka and 1 in 4 in urban areas having diabetes, screening programmes are timely as some do not even know that they have this condition. The screening at the Kalutara Bodhiya was conducted by DASL staff and volunteers who engage in regular Education, Awareness and Screening (EAS) programmes.
The Lotus Tower in blue in the campaign against diabetes. Pix by M.A. Pushpa Kumara
The Kalutara programme, like all others, saw the measurement of height and weight for the calculation of the BMI (body-mass index), waist circumference, a random blood sugar test (RBS), blood pressure check and advice from a doctor on the prevention of illness, if having diabetes on how to keep it under control, a healthy lifestyle and reduction of stress. Leaflets on maintaining a healthy lifestyle had also been distributed. A DASL spokesperson said that if a screened person’s RBS was >140, they took blood for an Hba1c test for diagnosis of diabetes.
The screening of people at the Kalutara Bodhiya had been assisted by Union Assurance which has partnered and sponsored DASL’s EAS programmes since 2024, under the Suwamaga initiative with more than 22,000 people being screened so far by accessing them in a converted double-decker bus.
How did it all begin? It had been Dr. Wijesuriya’s experience as a person living with diabetes and heart disease that fuelled his passion to prevent diabetes and other related NCDs, pioneering the formation of the DASL in 1984, followed by the National Diabetes Centre in 1995 and the ‘Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance Lanka’ (NCDA) in 2016.
Instrumental for many global, regional and national advocacy efforts, he was the primary investigator of ‘Diabrisk-sl’, an evidence-based translatable low cost, non-pharmacological lifestyle modification prevention tool. He was also the creator of an innovative awareness campaign ‘#1every6seconds’ which is the basis of the Framework on Sugar 2015 of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).
With the World Health Organization (WHO) tasking DASL to form the NCDA, Dr. Wijesuriya served on the first Board of Directors of the Global NCD Alliance Geneva from 2017-2019. He serves as the Executive Director of the NCDA
DASL, meanwhile, operates through a dedicated volunteer structure, including a Board of Trustees, Executive Committee and Board of Management, supported by executive staff. It is a member of the IDF.
The multidisciplinary team of DASL – comprising medical practitioners, healthcare professionals, nutritionists and dietitians – provides affordable or free services, including diabetes education, awareness and screening sessions to economically challenged people living with diabetes (PLWD).
In 2025, IDF President Prof. Peter Schwarz visited Sri Lanka and toured the National Diabetes Centre.
Among numerous achievements of the DASL is receiving ethical approval to establish the National Type 1 Diabetes Registry, the first of its kind in Sri Lanka in 2014. It has also launched many impactful public campaigns and a major advocacy initiative resulted in the introduction of a sugar tax on carbonated beverages in 2017.
DASL’s humanitarian efforts, meanwhile, include: The resumption in March 2025 of ‘Glucoventure Camps’ (residential diabetes camps for youth living with Type 1 diabetes) with funding from the Panorama T1D Fund and ongoing national and international support; #FeedAChildWithDiabetes under which monthly food vouchers of Rs. 5,000 are given to underprivileged children; and recognizing ‘Excellence in Diabetes Management’ among registrants by providing them with gift vouchers.
Colombo Municipal Council turns blue to support diabetes prevention. Pic by Nilan Maligaspe
Asked why blue for the Lotus Tower, DASL Vice President Dhanya Wijesuriya explained that theblue circle is the universal symbol for diabetes mellitus introduced in 2006.
It had initially been developed for the campaign that resulted in the passage of the United Nations (UN) Resolution making ‘World Diabetes Day’ an official UN day in 2007. It had been in 1991 that the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat posed by diabetes, created the World Diabetes Day.
The IDF has stated that the colour is blue because it “reflects the sky that unites all nations and is the colour of the UN flag” and the shape is a circle “because the circle is a frequent occurrence in nature and because myriad cultures over time have used the circle to symbolize life, mother earth and health”. Deputy Minister Dr. Hansaka Wijemuni switching on the Lotus Tower lighting as DASL representatives including its President Dr. Manilka Sumanatilleke (4th from the right) and Vice President Dhanya Wijesuriya (2nd from the left) look on
The health screening programme of DASL at the Kalutara Bodhiya. Pic by Sunil Thathriarachchi
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