In Colonial Ceylon while the Colombo Medical College offered a solid base to the doctors, professional cohesion was provided by the Ceylon branch of the British Medical Association founded in 1887, which subsequently became the Ceylon Medical Association (1951) and then the SLMA in 1972.
In the UK the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists was founded in 1929, some time after the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. In Ceylon it took another twenty-four years before steps were taken to form an association or society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
The first association of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists was founded in 1953. It was called the Ceylon Obstetrics and Gynaecological Association (COGA). The inaugural meeting was held at the residence of Dr.Mrs.May Ratnayake, St. Bryce dale, Ward Place, Colombo 07 on the 19th of November 1953 when a committee was elected to frame a constitution.
In the editorial of the first journal (1954) it says, “The Association of Obstetrics and Gynaecology is not a trade union, nor does it exist for the main purpose of fighting for the rights and privileges of its members. The only fight that figures in our aims is that against maternal and infant mortality”. |
