National Coordinator, Health Sector Disaster Management of the Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka
Ministry of Health, 385, Deans Road, Colombo 10, Sri Lanka
Telephone: +94 11 744 6508
Fax: +94 11 268 6113
Email: hdbher@gmail.com
Dr. H. D. B. Herath
Dr. Herath has 30 years of service in the government health services serving at various positions both at provincial and national level. He played a leading role in establishing the Disaster Preparedness and Response Division of the Ministry of Health and was appointed as the National Coordinator for Health Sector Disaster Preparedness and Response in 2008. In 2009, at the end of the civil armed conflict, he served as the Director, IDP Health Care to oversee the health service provision to the 300,000 internally displaced persons in Vavuniya.
He pioneered the establishment of the training programme leading to the Post-Graduate Diploma in Health Sector Disaster Management at the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine of the University of Colombo and served as the Founder Chairman, Specialty Board on Disaster Management and continuing as a member of the same. In 2015, he was appointed as Director, Anti-Malaria Campaign where he gave the leadership for Sri Lanka to obtain the Malaria Elimination Certification from the WHO. He has also authored several scientific and technical publications in Public Health, Disaster Management and related fields. He is currently serving as a Visiting Lecturer and as an Examiner at various undergraduate and post graduate training programmes in Seven Universities in Sri Lanka. He is a Fellow and a Past President of the College of Community Physicians of Sri Lanka. He is also the Vice President of the Association of Disaster Risk Management Professionals of Sri Lanka.