Profile

Prof. Sarath Samarage, MBBS(Cey), MPH(Johns Hopkins), MSc, MD(Com.Med), FCCPSL, FCMASL, K.St.J, MJF is a Consultant Community Physician, currently serving as the Dean of the Faculty of Postgraduate Studies of the International Institute of Health Sciences (IIHS), and as a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Health Policy (IHP), Sri Lanka. He served as a National Consultant at the World Health Organization Country Office, Sri Lanka and as the Deputy Director General of Health Services (Planning) in the Ministry of Health.
He has been honoured as a Knight of Grace by H.E The Queen, for his outstanding services rendered in the St. John Ambulance. He is also a Mevin Jones Fellow of the Lions Clubs International.

Research Interest

Prof. Samarage's research interests are in the areas of Health Systems Development, Primary Health Care, Human Resources Development, Health Policy & Planning.

Journal Publications

  • Rannan-Eliya, R. P., Nilmini Wijemunige, Herath, M., Perera, P., Vajira H.W. Dissanayake, Perera, B., Dalpatadu, S., Samarage, S., & Gamage, A. (2025). The Diabetes Care Cascade in Sri Lanka: An Analysis of Losses, Disparities, and Opportunities for Improved Health System Outcomes. Health Systems & Reform, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23288604.2025.2516904
  • Perera, B., Rannan-Eliya, R. P., Wijemunige, N., Samarage, S., Herath, H. M. M., Jayawardene, W., & Torabi, M. R. (2025). Epidemiology of alcohol use in Sri Lanka: Findings of the SLHAS national survey. Global Epidemiology, 10, 100222. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloepi.2025.100222
  • Ranagala, R., Dharmaratne, G. S. K., & Samarage, S. (2024). Selection of Biomedical Equipment for public hospitals in Sri Lanka: A stakeholder perspective. Sri Lankan Journal of Medical Administration, 25(1), 84–93. https://doi.org/10.4038/sljma.v25i1.5497
  • Rannan-Eliya, R. P., Ghaffoor, A., Amarasinghe, S., Nirmani, M. D., Wijemunige, N., Perera, S., Samarage, S., Dalpatadu, K., Wisidagama, N., Fonseka, S., Kumara, N., Selvaratnam, A., & Dananjana, T. (2024). Sri Lanka's COVID-19 response and maintaining health services: implications for future pandemics. BMJ Global Health, 8(Suppl 6), e013286. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2023-013286
  • Rannan-Eliya, R. P., Dissanayake, V. H., Perera, P., Perera, B., Herath, M., Nilmini Wijemunige, Dalpatadu, S., Sarath Samarage, Gamage, A., Renuka Jayatissa, & Fernando, E. Y. (2024). Cohort Profile: The Sri Lanka Health and Ageing Study (SLHAS). International Journal of Epidemiology, 53(2). https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyae044
  • Rannan-Eliya, R. P., Wijemunige, N., Perera, P., Kapuge, Y., Gunawardana, N., Sigera, C., Jayatissa, R., Herath, H. M. M., Gamage, A., Weerawardena, N., Sivagnanam, I., Dalpatadu, S., Samarage, S., Samarakoon, U., Samaranayake, N., Pullenayegam, C., & Perera, B. (2023). Prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes in Sri Lanka: a new global hotspot–estimates from the Sri Lanka Health and Ageing Survey 2018/2019. BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care, 11(1), e003160. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjdrc-2022-003160
  • Karthikeyan, P., Samarage, S. M., Arnold, S. M., Sridharan, S., & Jayathilake, A. D. H. (2022). Streamlining the formulation of project proposals in the provincial health sector in Sri Lanka. International Journal of Current Research in Medical Sciences, 8(3), 6–17.
  • Ranasinghe GSP, Panapitiya PWC, & Samarage SM. (2021). Strengthening the Drug Supply Chain Management in a tertiary care hospital in Sri Lanka. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications (IJSRP), 11(6), 22–35. https://doi.org/10.29322/ijsrp.11.06.2021.p11406
  • Karthikeyan Parimelalagapillai, Sarath Samarage, & Sridharan, S. (2021). 25 Find a way or make one: A project to improve the health planning process in Sri Lanka. Abstracts. https://doi.org/10.1136/leader-2021-fmlm.25
  • Karunatilaka, M. N., & Samarage, S. (2020). Knowledge of the "Agrahara" Medical Insurance Scheme among employees of a selected public sector institution in Sri Lanka. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications (IJSRP), 10(9), 912–916.
  • Perera, G. S. N., Jayawardena, P., Senanayaka, S., & Samarage, S. M. (2016). Prevalence of migraine and tension-type headache among 20- to 59-year-old adults in the Gampaha district. Kln.ac.lk. DOI: 1391-3174
  • Rajapaksa-Hewageegana, N., Piercy, H., Salway, S., & Samarage, S. (2015). Sexual and reproductive knowledge, attitudes and behaviors in a school going population of Sri Lankan adolescents. Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare, 6(1), 3–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.srhc.2014.08.001
  • Rajapaksa-Hewageegana, N., Salway, S. M., Piercy, H., & Samarage, S. (2014). A quantitative exploration of the sociocultural context of teenage pregnancy in Sri Lanka. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-014-0394-y
  • Samarage, S., Dalpatadu, S., & Perera, P. (2012, December 6). Developing Leaders for Medical Administration in Sri Lanka. SSRN. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2217262
  • Bandara, S., Perera, S., & Samarage, S. (2011, July 13). In Search of a New Model for Rationalizing Primary Health Care System in Sri Lanka: Cost-Analysis of a Primary Health Care Unit. SSRN. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1893685
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orcid.org/0000-0002-8137-3786 Sarath Samarage ResearchGate sarath.s@iihsciences.edu.lk 2025 · IIHS