Professor Sumathipalas work with the WHO

Invited to present a concept paper/temporary advisor to WHO. WHO meeting on
'Research for Change'. Title of the speech: “Being a researcher in a developing
country: challenges, barriers and rewards”. Cape Town South Africa (Dec, 2002).
• Primary presenter for the American Psychiatric Association, WHO, National
Institute of Health (USA) research planning conference; Somatic Presentations of
Mental Disorders: Refining the Research Agenda for DSM-V. Title of the speech: “What
is the evidence for treatments for somatoform disorders” Beijing, China (Sep 2006)

GLOBAL MENTAL HEALTH: Committees
• WHO Topic Expert Group (TEG) for the mental health gap (mhGAP) guideline
updates 2021.
• WHO South-East Asia Regional Strategy on Prevention of Suicide Expert group
for Finalization of the strategy. SEARO, New Delhi, India (April, 2016).
• WHO Working Group on Somatic Distress and Dissociative Disorders to make
recommendations regarding necessary revisions to the ICD-10 classification (2011-
2015).
• WHO Guidelines Development Group (GDG) for problems and disorders
specifically related to stress (SPE-STRESS) (2011-2013).

ETHICS: Committees
• Member of the WHO working group on 'Ethical issues in Research and
surveillance: Epidemics, Pandemics and Public Health Crisis' (2011-2013).

Publications
4 WHO. Describe possible variations to standard procedures of ethics review
that are applicable to research in public health emergencies. Ethics in epidemics,
emergencies and disasters: research, surveillance and patient care Training
manual. WHO, Geneva 2015