Sabaratnam Arulkumaran

Sir Sabaratnam Arulkumaran is a Sri Lankan Tamil physician, former president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, and president-elect of the British Medical Association.

Early life and family Arulkumaran was born in 1948. He was the son of K. Sabaratnam, a Director of the Jaffna Co-operative Society, and Gnambikai. He was educated at Jaffna Central College and Mahajana College, Tellippalai. After school he joined the University of Ceylon in 1968 and graduated with an honours MBBS degree in 1972. He then obtained a Diploma in Child Health from the university. He then became a fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He was professor of obstetrics and gynaecology (1993-1997) and head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (1995-1997). In June 2012, he was elected president of the British Medical Association for 2013-2014.

Arulkumaran is an honorary fellow of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Pakistan, South African Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and Sri Lanka College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. He is an honorary member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gynäkilogie und Geurtshilfe, Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society of Malaysia and Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada.

In November 2012, Arulkumaran was appointed chair of a panel of inquiry into the death of Savita Halappanavar in Ireland.