he Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) is the national professional medical association in Sri Lanka, which brings together medical practitioners of all grades and all branches of medicine. The SLMA is in fact the oldest professional medical association in Asia and Australasia, with a proud history dated from 1887. At its inception it was called the 'Ceylon Branch of the British Medical Association'. Later it evolved into the 'Ceylon Medical Association' (1951) and after Sri Lanka became a Republic in 1972, it became the 'Sri Lanka Medical Association'. The Association aims to provide a forum for its members to further their professional and academic development.