PEDICON 2005 to stress on total healthcare for all

EHM News Bureau - Kolkata

Dr Debasis Biswas, addl org Secretary	Dr Tapan K Ghosh, organising secretary	Dr Ritabrata Kundu, addl Org Secretary

Kolkata will be hosting the 42nd national conference of Indian Academy of Pediatrics (PEDICON 2005) from January 6-9, 2005. It has been almost 12 years since the last national conference of Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) was held in Kolkata, way back in 1993.

Organised by the West Bengal branch of IAP, the event will be held at the science city auditorium and nearby ITC Hotel Sonar Bangla Sheraton & Towers. The 42nd annual conference of Pediatric Association of SAARC will be held along with PEDICON 2005 on January 9, 2005. The theme of this year’s conference is “Towards Vision 2020: Our Mission-Total Healthcare from 0-18”.

Speaking to Express Healthcare Management, Dr Tapan Kumar Ghosh, organising secretary, PEDICON 2005 said, “Till date, more than 4000 delegates have confirmed their participation for the conference.”

Several distinguished pediatricians and nearly 400 faculty members of pediatrics will participate in the conference. Commenting on the theme of the event, Dr Ghosh said, “The theme of the conference ’Towards Vision 2020: Our Mission-Total Healthcare from 0 to 18’ is very carefully selected to reflect the vision of IAP in the coming years, incorporating the dream slogan of our president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.”

This year, nearly 500 students from different parts of the country are scheduled to attend the different seminars and scientific programmes, which will be held during the conference. The West Bengal branch of IAP has arranged for subsidised accommodation for these students. “This will be a learning experience for them,” Dr Ghosh said.

Foreign delegates from SAARC countries like Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh and countries like UK, the United States, Switzerland, Norway and Sweden will be attending the conference. For the first time, a 40-member delegation of pediatricians from Pakistan will be participating in the conference.

The president and secretary-generals of the Academy of Pediatrics of different SAARC countries have been invited to participate in the conference.’ “For the first time, 15 pre-conference workshops will be held on January 5. Almost 40 delegates can attend each workshop and nearly 600 delegates will participate in all the workshops,” said Dr Ghosh.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the West Bengal Chief Minister is likely to attend the inauguration at the Science City Auditorium on January 6, 2005. Dr Surya Kanta Misra, the state health minister, is also likely to attend the conference. Gopal Krishna Gandhi, the newly appointed governor of West Bengal will be also invited to attend the conference.

In the main inauguration programme, the deaf and dumb children will welcome the dignitaries and mentally challenged children will sing the national anthem at the end of the ‘opening ceremony’. Dr Ghosh added that apart from the usual pre-conference CMEs on practical paediatrics and advanced paediatrics, there will be a third CME on paediatric dermatology. Dr Ritabrata Kundu, additional organizing secretary, PEDICON 2005 said, “ “Several foreign speakers have already confirmed their participation. They include, Dr Jeferry Almond from the US, Dr DJP Barkar from the UK, Dr G Delespesse from Canada, Dr Thomas Cherian from Geneva and others.”

Dr Debasis Biswas, additional organizing Secretary, PEDICON 2005 said, the underprivileged children, especially the street children will draw various paintings during PEDICON days in the venue, which will be sold on the spot to raise funds for their welfare.

Cultural shows in all the three evenings depicting the rich heritage and culture of Bengal will be the other highlight of the conference.

The Pune branch of IAP has organised a 200-km bicycle rally from Digha to Kolkata, to spread the message of the conference. Dr Ghosh said that there will be eight relaxation lounges for the delegates at the conference venue. Beside, these there will be a pain management center.

Coinciding with the conference, an exhibition is being organised by IAP. The exhibition will expose pharmaceutical companies to a focussed target audience. The exhibition aims at giving opportunity for the manufacturers to display and give live demonstration of their products.

Nearly 120 pharma companies have confirmed their participation in the exhibition, Dr Ghosh said. Dr Biswas said a colorful valedictory programme is planned for the last day of the conference on

January 9, 2005. Somnath Chatterjee, speaker of the Lok Sabha is also likely to attend the ‘Valedictory Session’.