Our Founders

MRS. SYLVIA FERNANDO

Mrs. Sylvia Fernando was the founder of the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka, then known as the Family Planning Association of Ceylon. She was the pioneer in making family planning a reality in a rather challenging environment. Initiating an organization with its core subject being sensitive in nature is not an easy task. Commencing a program for an issue very controversial and taboo at the time was incredibly daring and nevertheless challenging. Mrs. Sylvia s patience was remarkable and her particular smile revealed her sense of what was right. A single stern sentence settled most issues. She believed that everyone should have a hearing and the reason she gave was that everyone had experience unique to oneself from which others could learn. She had such a generous spirit and a heart that warmed to people; she not only shared all she had with others but also felt that everyone thought the same way about each other.

DR. MARY RUTNUM

A Canadian Gynaecologist and is considered a pioneer in family health. Dr. Rutnum founded the Family Welfare Association and initiated many progressive movements for women. The Lanka Mahila Samithi and the Family Planning Association of Ceylon were her most notable achievements. She was devoted to the development of maternal health, quality milk for children, their moral and physical wellbeing were some of the issues she strove to address and develop.

Dr. Rutnum made contact with the Birth Control International Information Centre, London in the early thirties and when its Honorary Director Mrs. Edith Howe-Martyn made a stop-gap visit in January 1936 while on a world tour, it created an impetus to introduce family planning services to Sri Lanka.

A year later, despite stiff opposition Dr. Rutnum and a group of Medical Practitioners opened a clinic in Colombo. However it needed to be closed down due to the shipping difficulties in the wake of World War 2.The plight of women in post-independent Ceylon was no better than before and the resurgence of the family planning movement therefore was solely due to her perseverance to create a better world for them and their children.

By now she had the unflagging support of Mrs. Sylvia Fernando whose commitment to family planning equalled her own. At the Inaugural Meeting of the Family Planning association of Ceylon in January 1953, Dr. Rutnum was elected its first President. The Constitution of the Association was based on the Family Welfare Society which had ceased to function by then and Dr. Rutnum made arrangements to transfer the balance monies to the FPA Sri Lanka, creating the seed capital required for its initial operations.

PROF. C.C. DE SILVA

Professor C.C. de Silva served as President of the Family Panning Association from 1956 to 1958 and again from 1976-1977. As a member of the Executive Committee, the National Council and the Medical Council he contributed a great measure to guide the FPA in its formative years. As Professor of Paediatrics at the Universities of Colombo and Peradeniya his international stature brought luster to the fledgling Association and helped it to gain recognition and support from many quarters both national and international.

It was however his deep concern for the welfare of mothers and children that made him a fervent proponent of family planning. In the early sixties Prof.de Silva initiated a Family Planning Clinic at the Lady Ridgeway Children’s Hospital in Colombo in conjunction with Nutrition Clinic. It sought to help the mothers not only to receive advice about child care, but also about planning their families. Additionally, Prof. de Silva offered his services voluntarily at the Maternal and Child Health cum Family Planning Clinics at St. Michael’s Polwatte and the Oruwala Steel Corporation.

MRS. LEILA BASNAYAKE

Mrs. Basnayake stands out as one of the Associations most committed volunteers who over a 40 year period of service helped to develop it to become a major contributor to the national family planning effort. A Founder member of the Association, Mrs. Basnayake would recall how she had been motivated to join the Association in 1953 by Dr. Florence Ram Aluvihare. Elected President of the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka in 1977, Mrs. Basnayake steered its affairs for the next three years during which time she presided over the Silver Jubilee Celebrations in 1978. A devotee to the cause of family planning Mrs. Basnayake was a Senior Advisor whose advice and guidance was often sought by the younger generation.

Both she and Mrs. Phyllis Dissanayake were elected Honorary Life Members of the National Council and functioned as Trustees of the Association. Mrs. Basnayake was also a member of the Indian Ocean Regional Council of the IPPF. From the time the first Family Planning Association Clinic was inaugurated in September 1953 at the De Soysa Maternity Hospital Mrs. Basnayake was to play a very significant role in its development. There is no doubt that her multiple roles helped to make the Family Planning Association what it is today.

DR. SIVA CHINNATAMBY

One of Sri Lanka’s most distinguished daughters Dr. Siva Chinnatamby was one of the early pioneers who though not a founder member joined the newly found Family Planning Association as a volunteer doctor. Her involvement in the family planning movement was an extension of her association with a small band of visionaries among who were Dr. Mary Rutnum, Professor C.C. de Silva, Prof. D.A. Ranasinghe, Dr. (Mrs.) L.O. Abeyratne, Dr. P.R. Thiagarajah, Dr. Florence Ram Aluvihare, Mrs. Sylvia Fernando, Mrs. Ezlynn Deraniyagala and others.

When she joined Dr. Florence Aluvihare as a volunteer doctor at the FPA’s first clinic at the De Soysa Maternity Hospital, Dr. Siva Chinnatamby requested that she be given sub-fertility cases; so that she could help childless couples conceive even after several years of marriage.

In 1958 she was elected Vice President of the Association and a Member of the National Council. Eventually she was appointed the Honorary Medical Director in overall charge of the clinical program. An ardent advocate of safe family planning Dr. Siva engaged in research to ensure that the use of family planning devices did not endanger the health or the lives of women.

In September 1960 under the direction of Dr. G.R. Venning, Sr. Siva began a three-year study of oral contraception with the Clinical Trials conducted at the Ragama Hospital. Later on once again Dr. Siva Chinnatamby was in the forefront of research when in 1963 she conducted Clinical Trails on the use of the Intra Uterine Device (IUD). In addition, she was also involved in research on the long-acting Injectible, Depo Provera introduced in 1967.