Dr. Risitha Wakishta Arachchi and Dr. Janaka Wickramanayake from Sri Lanka recently participated in two important international events at Khyber Medical University (KMU), Peshawar, Pakistan, advancing Sri Lanka’s engagement with global public mental health initiatives.
On April 10, 2025, they attended the Second Plenary Session of the 5th International Public Health Conference at KMU. This session turned the spotlight on Public Mental Health, underscoring its increasing importance within both global and national public health agendas. Discussions emphasized the need to prioritize prevention, early intervention, and system-wide integration of mental health services across diverse healthcare settings.
Following the plenary, from April 11 to 17, 2025, Dr. Wakishta Arachchi and Dr. Wickramanayake participated in a Training Workshop on Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP), organized under the TRANSLATE Project. The TRANSLATE Project is an international research collaboration aimed at implementing and evaluating early intervention services for psychosis in low- and middle-income countries, including Sri Lanka. The workshop provided hands-on training in early detection, diagnosis, and evidence-based management of First Episode Psychosis (FEP), with a focus on practical application within real-world clinical settings.
During the workshop, participants received hands-on training in critical clinical assessment tools such as CAARMS (Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental States), PANSS (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale), and SCAN (Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry). These tools are essential for data collection and patient assessment under Work Package 2 (WP2) of the TRANSLATE study, which focuses on the implementation and evaluation of Early Intervention services for First Episode Psychosis (FEP) and the validation of a prediction model for treatment-resistant schizophrenia.
Their active participation highlights the IRD’s commitment to adopting innovative, research-driven strategies to strengthen mental health services in Sri Lanka and contribute to global efforts in transforming care for individuals with psychosis.
IRD Media Unit
