The Department of Community Medicine was established soon after the creation of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna, in 1978. It started functioning with the appointment of Prof. C. Sivagnanasundram as the first Head of Department.
The Department was initially set up at the present site of the Siddha Department in Kaithady, and then shifted to the Pathology Block at the Jaffna Teaching Hospital in 1981, and later to the ground floor of the incomplete Medical Faculty building on September 19, 1985. On completion of the building, the Department finally moved to its present location on the first floor in September 1986.
In 2011, Family Medicine was introduced into the curriculum, and the Department became the Department of Community and Family Medicine (as per Gazette Extraordinary No: 1711/24 of 24.06.2011).
The building and the equipment in the Department were destroyed during the IPKF operation in 1985 and again during ‘Operation Rivirasa’ in 1995. During the latter, the population of Jaffna vacated and the buildings were abandoned; most of the furniture and equipment were destroyed or lost. Prof. C. Sivagananasundram continued to serve in the Department even after his retirement until his last days. His good practice was carried forward by Dr. N. Sivarajah.
