President expresses gratitude to medical team for services to tsunami 2004 (Snni) - Melbourne

The team has worked at the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital in Galle and the Hambantota Base Hospital since December 2004 and recently made their tenth visit to Sri Lanka. AusLMAT has donated medical equipment valued at more than 4 million Australian dollars since tsunami 2004. This included a six bed coronary care state of monitoring system and many echocardiography machines, defibrillators, ECG's ect.Specialist in cardiology, orthopaedic surgery, paediatrics and infectious diseases have visited the Karapitiya Teaching hospital and have given lectures to the Galle Medical Society. Final year Medical Students are taught in the professional medical wards by doctors of AuSLMART. AuSLMART 'will visit Galle and Karapitiya again in March 2007 and will be joined by the AUSAID interplast team of specialist plastic surgeons who will work at the Karapitiya Teaching Hospital and the Hambantota Base Hospital.

Dr. Keith Mutimer from Melbourne will lead the interplast team. Specialist paediatric plastic surgeon from the UK will join the team from Australia. The Australia Sri Lanka Medical Aid team were recently awarded the Humanitarian Overseas Services Medal by the Governor General of Australia for services rendered to Sri Lanka since tsunami 2004. President Rajapaksa was shown this medal at Temple Trees when they met.