AAPI Condemns Violence Against Physicians In India
Nov 29, 2022
AAPI Urges Government to prevent violence and bring to justice those harm Physicians... Chicago, IL: “AAPI is very concerned by the recent and ongoing assaults on Doctors and Medical Professionals in India and joins American Kerala Medical Graduates Association (AKMG ) and Kerala Medical Post Graduates Association in condemning the recent physical assault on a female Doctor at Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College on November 23rd that was caught on the CCTV,” Dr. Ravi Kolli, President of American Association of Physicians of India Origin (AAPI) said here today.
The leadership of AAPI, including Drs. Ravi Kolli, President of AAPI, Dr. Vishweshwar Ranga, Chair, BOT of AAPI, Dr. Raghu Lolabhattu, Vice Chair, AAPI BOT, Dr. Anjana Samadder, President-Elect of AAPI, Dr. Satheesh Kathula, Vice President of AAPI, Dr. Sujeeth Punnam, Chair, Alumni Committee of AAPI, Dr. Geetha Nair, President of AKMG, Dr. Nigil Haroon, immediate past President of AKMG, and Dr. Subra Bhat, past President of AKMG, and the entire Executive Committee and Board Of Trustees of AAPI, stand in solidarity with our fellow physicians and medical professionals, who are on the front line, work very hard, day and night to serve and take care of patients diligently and dutifully, Dr. Kolli said in a statement issued here. Quoting media reports last month that pointed to a very grim situation in the state of Punjab in India, Dr. Kolli said, it is shocking to learn of “Recent incidents of physical assaults and misconduct have once again instilled a sense of fear in the mind of on-duty medical staff. As per the data, compiled by the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) Association, over 400 incidents of violence against medical staff, including doctors, have been reported over the past two years.”
Recalling that from ancient times, physicians across the world have been revered for dedicating their lives for the noble mission of preventing people from getting and saving millions of lives of people from illnesses, Dr. Anjana Samadder, President-Elect of AAPI said. “We as a community of physicians and individual members of this fraternity have decided to go into the medical profession with the best of intentions. We as physicians want to help people, ease suffering and save lives. Physicians of Indian origin are well known around the world for their compassion, passion for patient care, medical skills, research, and leadership.” “We strongly urge both the central and state governments to take decisive and drastic actions to curb these anti-social behaviors that endanger doctors serving patients,” Dr. Ranga, BOT Chair of AAPI said. He agreed with the health experts who “want a multi-pronged approach to prevent such attacks, involving reducing the crowd by strengthening peripheral hospitals, increasing staff and providing better security.”
Dr, Satheesh Kathula, Vice President of AAPI said, “These incidents are unfortunate. We urge the federal and the state governments to provide adequate security at all hospitals and healthcare centers.” AAPI supports the petition calling for justice to the Doctor attacked in Thiruvananthapuram, which has gained support from the Kerala Medical Post Graduate Association, who stated that it is unsettling that such attacks occurred in medical campuses, which are supposed to be a secure location, he added. “AAPI members share their angst as there is not enough support from the state and federal governments and the larger society as the attacks on Medical Professionals in India continue to rise, Dr. Meher Medavaram, Secretary of AAPI said. Pointing to the trend of increasing violence against the Medical Professionals, and the actions against the perpetrators are disproportionately low, Dr. Sumul Raval, Treasurer of AAPI said, “Medical Professionals cannot provide the best possible health services to the people until there is a safe working environment. Potential fear of violence always looms, especially in the overcrowded Government Hospitals.”
Several aspiring Physicians have expressed concerns following the assault on the female doctor at Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College last week. The attacked female Doctor is quoted to have told Dr. Sulphi N, the Indian Medical Association state president, that she was shocked and regretted her decision to pursue a career as a Doctor and even as a neurosurgeon. “Despite the noble intentions to save lives and prevent pain and suffering among the patients, Doctors and Medical Professionals continue to put their own lives on the line in the course of their jobs, it is shocking that face such attacks from the very people they are trying to help,” Dr. Sujeeth Punnam, Chair, Alumni Committee of AAPI added.
Dr. Raghu Lolabhattu, Vice Chair, AAPI BOT said, “AAPI urges the Government of India and the State Governments across the country to bring to justice those behind the cruel attacks on the physicians who have dedicated lives for serving the sick, especially during the critical Covid pandemic, risking his own life and that of his dear ones.” “We at AAPI, the largest ethnic medical organization in the United States urge the Government of India and every state in India to make all the efforts needed to prevent violence against medical professionals and enable them to continue to serve the country with dignity, pride and security. We are shocked by the lack of coherent action against such violence and protect members of this noble fraternity. And we want immediate action against the culprits, who have been carrying on these criminal acts.”
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Guwahati Book Fair: Bringing solace to pandemic-hit book publishers
By Nava Thakuria
The 33rd Guwahati Book Fair (30 December 2020 to 10 January 2021) will be remembered for various reasons and one must be the visible space dedicated to the cause of Tibet and its peace-loving people. It was, in fact, the first big event across India as the un-lockdown process for the Covid-19 pandemic started. A huge number of book publishers, writers, journalists, conscious readers, onlookers assembled every day in the fair. Popularly known as Guwahati Granthamela, organized by the government-run Asom Prakasan Parisad (Publication Board Assam) at Assam Engineering Institute playground in Chandmari locality of the city, had attracted from 30,000 to over one lakh visitors every day. It comprised of around 125 stalls and the entry was made free. Books worth Rs eight crore were sold in the fair which also witnessed a number of literary discussions, book release functions and various competitions among the children.
Formally inaugurated by Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal’s media adviser Hrishikesh Goswami in presence of noted intellectual Tathagata Roy, renowned litterateur Yeshe Dorjee Thongshi with other dignitaries, the book fair, which was earlier postponed for two times, got enriched by every evening’s spectacular cultural shows which were organized following the corona-related health protocols.
Representing CM Sonowal in the function, Goswami conveyed the goodwill to everyone commenting that books are the oasis in deserts which nurtures the intellectual and creative capacities of human beings. He also conferred the publication board’s lifetime achievement award for 2019 on eminent Assamese scholar Dr Thaneswar Sarma in presence of all dignitaries. The former Governor of Tripura, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, Roy in his speech termed Assamese as a sweet language and expressed hope that the bonhomie between Assamese and Bengali people would continue in future too. A resident of West Bengal but familiar with the Assamese society, the outspoken author observed that the National Education Policy 2020 should immensely help in highlighting the regional languages and their literature.
Padmashri Thongshi, who is a resident of neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh, described various challenges surfaced due to the corona-pandemic. The Sahitya Academy awardee derived a positive note out of the pandemic with the increase of quality readers across the world. Thongshi expressed happiness that a collection of literary pieces including novels, short stories, folk tales, etc written in both Assamese and English by another Arunachali litterateur Lumber Dai was released in the function. “We are satisfied with the public response to the book fair. The publication board continued to work soon after the un-lockdown began. We have reprinted many rare books in Assamese and also given space to new creations by established authors as well as promising authors,” said Pramod Kalita, secretary to the publication board, which launched the book fair movement in early eighties initially in collaboration with National Book Trust of India.
The twelve-day fair witnessed the impressive selling of a resourceful poetry collection by academy awardee Hiren Bhattacharjee, a new novel by another academy winner Rita Chowdhury, literary works by Phanindra Kr Devchoudhury, Dhrubajyoti Bora, Anuradha Sarma Pujari, Jayanta Madhav Bora, Geetali Borah, Dambarudhar Nath, Namrata Dutta, Dhirumoni Gogoi, Pankaj Dutta, Jintu Geetartha, Abhijit Bora, Aayub Ali Sarma, etc. A novel narrating the life of a bus driver by debutant Rupam Dutta was sold like hot cakes, where an Assamese classic ‘Asimat Jar Heral Seema’ by Kanchan Baruah, a biography of veteran Congress leader Tarun Gogoi, the Assamese translation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s letters to his mother by Utpal Dutta also received well responses from the visitors.
CM Sonowal while taking time out of his busy schedule visited the book fair and collected some of his favourite books. He graced the stall erected by the State information and public relations department and interacted with the book lovers. Later he twitted that the books have the power to take everyone to a new world. He also fondly remembered his school days as a regular visitor to Granthamela. The closing ceremony was graced by Asom Sahitya Sabha president Kuladhar Saikia and Bodo Sahitya Sabha president Taren Boro where both the heads of influential literary forums expressed satisfactions over selling of quantity books in the fair. Sumanta Chaliha, who presided over the meeting, revealed that the publication board itself sold books worth Rs 12 lakh. He also thanked State education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma along with others for whole hearted supports for the fair.
A stall dedicated to Bangladesh literature attracted a large number of visitors where Bangladeshi diplomat Shah Mohamed Tanvir Monsur, now based in the city, was personally present for some time. The tourism department also participated in the fair with a cute stall for the first time with an aim to disseminate information about tourism potentials in the country for domestic tourists. In a session discussing on post-corona challenges and possibilities by the book (publication) industry, various speakers were in unanimous that the pandemic had severely affected the sector including and also the physical newspapers, but at the same time it helped to increase the number of committed readers precisely among the new generation. They opined that the process of publication and marketing of Assamese books also reemerged with new approaches to the technology driven profession for the interest of valued readers.
The speakers also highlighted the crisis faced by the print media industry as most of the readers still evade taking the newspapers inside their residences. Initially it was the rumour that newspapers could carry the corona-virus that discouraged senior citizens to read their favourite papers and lately challenges emerged as most of the newsy contents become swiftly available in various digital platforms. Inaugurating the session, senior publisher Nabin Baruah thoroughly described the hardship faced by the publication houses as the corona-pandemic hit the country in early March. He however opined that the disaster helped everyone to redefine his life in a tricky and isolated ambience. Many people could regain their habit of reading and many others join the group of committed readers irrespective of the paper-printed books or digital outlets, he observed. The session was addressed by some young publishers including Pritima Kaushik Barua, Manish Hazarika, Dhiraj Lahkar, Amrit Upadhaya, Farhan Javed, Buljit Buragohain along with award winning Assamese author Bipul Deuri. They observed that various modern technological tools for publication, promotion and marketing would finally bring a better deal for quality publishers around the world.
Participating in the discussion, literary magazine editor Mihir Deuri, senior journalist Dixit Sarma, poet Nabajyoti Pathak, a vivid reader Nripen Dutta etc expressed concerns over the shrinkage of valued readers in various regional languages but opined with confidences that it’s time to promote Assamese as an internet-savvy language as well to reach millions of readers living in different parts of the globe. A book release function in the fair paved the way for an intriguing discussion on the issue of saffron. Senior journalist Rupam Barua described the saffron colour as a most sacred entity to every Indian. He pointed out that the saffron is not exclusive to Sanatan (Hindu) region alone, but it is equally adorable to Shikh, Jain and Buddhists. Even the great Ahom king Rudra Singha admired the saffron colour putting it in his flag.
A number of participants in the function, where scribe Biswajit Nath’s book was released, criticized various motivated individuals for deriving the term as saffron terrorism. Social activists Abhijit Sarma, Puspalata Nath, Ranjit Kalita along with scribe Bandeep Goswami in their speeches admitted that they too love the respect the saffron colour as it represents the magnificent treasures of Indian culture and traditions existing for thousands of years. A documentary show on Assam police’s women commando unit named Veerangana was an interesting addition to the fair. State police chief Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta and popular Assamese artiste Mridula Baruah graced the occasion where the Kishore Kalita directed film was screened. The 21-minute documentary narrates the story of those special female commandos who keep ready themselves to serve the women in dire need of security.
Showcasing the Tibetan culture added colours to the festival as two cultural evenings were dedicated to the land of Dalai Lama. Mesmerizing performances by the artistes from Gangjong Doeghar, an independent local organization comprising of Tibetans, Sherpas and Bhutias based in Kalimpong, engrossed the audience with fascinating music and dances. The freedom movement led by the exile Tibetans against the Communist regime in Beijing also came alive in a stall which was opened by Tibetan support group leader RK Khrimey.
Graced by the Tibetan exile government representative Jigmey Tsultrim and moderated by Buddha enthusiast Soumyadeep Datta, the stall exhibited a number of exotic photographs depicting the lives of common Tibetans in and around the Potala palace in Lhasa. Moreover, strong political messages for a Free Tibet were also aired with the tagline that China was never a neighbor to India (but Tibet) and Beijing’s ongoing destructive activities on Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra in Tibet) would only devastate the ecology of northeast India and northern Bangladesh.
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Covid-19: Indian media second most affected, global toll at 442
Special ContributionBy Nava Thakuria
Guwahati: The Covid-19 pandemic continues to claim many victims among journalists where 442 media workers in 52 countries have died of novel corona virus infections since March. India emerges as the second affected country (after Peru) with 47 corona-casualties followed by Ecuador, Brazil, Bangladesh etc, reveals international media rights body Press Emblem Campaign (PEC).
In a statement issued from Geneva (Switzerland) on 2 November 2020 on the occasion of international day to end impunity for crimes against journalists, the PEC also added that altogether 63 journalists have been murdered since January this year in various circumstances, which brings the total number so far this year at more than 500 fatalities. “It is an extremely heavy and unprecedented toll. The safety of all journalists who work on the ground to inform on the pandemic is at stake. Many victims are young and they have been infected at work. As the second wave has just begun, we urge all stakeholders to better protect the media workers, without preventing them from doing their job,” said PEC general-secretary Blaise Lempen.
Peru remains the country with the heaviest toll, with 93 media workers who died from the corona virus since March. The rise in the number of victims of Covid-19 has been particularly strong in recent weeks in India, now the second most affected country with 47 deaths. Ecuador is third with 41 deaths, then at the 4th place Brazil follows with 36 journalists who died from Covid-19, then Bangladesh with 35 fatalities.
Among the most affected countries are Mexico, with at least 26 journalists corona-victims, then the United States of America (22), Pakistan (11), Panama (11), Bolivia (9). In Great Britain and Nigeria, eight journalists have died in each country. Seven victims were counted in Afghanistan and Honduras, six in Nicaragua, five in Russia, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, then four in Colombia, France, and Spain.
Three journalists died of Covid-19 in Italy, as well as in Cameroon, Egypt, Guatemala, Nepal and El Salvador. Two deaths each are to be deplored in Algeria, Argentina, Indonesia, Iran, South Africa, and Sweden. At least one media corona-fatality has been traced in Germany, Israel, Lebanon, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq (Kurdistan), Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Togo, and Zimbabwe.
The actual figure is certainly higher, as some countries do not report the deaths of journalists or some of them have not been tested before dying. The PEC count is based on information from the local media, national associations of journalists, and regional correspondents of the organization. Condemning the assassination of 63 journalists (India with six victims) till 31 October, the PEC also renewed its call to concerned governments to enforce the resolution of human rights council on the safety of working journalists. The author is a PEC correspondent in India
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Shri Ram NathKovind, President of India, to inaugurate AAPI’s 12th GHS on December 28th, at Taj Palace, in Mumbai
President of India
New York, NY: October5th, 2018: “I am very pleased to announce that Shri Ram NathKovind, President of India, has kindly accepted our invitation, and will inaugurate AAPI’s 12th Global Healthcare Summit on December 28th in Mumbai,” Dr. Naresh Parikh, President of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), declared here today. The groundbreaking Global Healthcare Summit (GHS) organized by AAPI in collaboration with the Government of India and GAPIO along with participation from some of the world’s most well-known physicians, and industry leaders, will be held from December 28th at the Taj Palace and from December 28 to 30th, 2018 at the Trident Hotel, Nariman Point, Mumbai, India.
Describing that for the very first time in the history of AAPI, a sitting Indian President will be at the Global Healthcare Summit, Dr. Parikh lauded the efforts of the Organizing Committee for their hard work. “AAPI appreciates the hard work of Dr. Raj Bhayani and Dr. Bharat Barai to make this possible and adding this landmark to the glorious history of AAPI along with planning and team work of GHS Organizing Committee Chair Dr. Ravi Jahagirdar and Mr. Anwar Feroz Siddiqi.” The 14th President of the Republic India, Shri Ram NathKovind served as Governor of Bihar from 2015 to 2017. He was a Member of the Indian Parliament, Rajya Sabha from 1994 to 2006. On 25 July 2017, he took the oath as the 14th President of India. The 71 year old Ram NathKovind has attained some high profile assortment in the govt, as well as economics.
With the objective of enabling people in India to access high quality, affordable, and cost-effective world class health services, the Global Healthcare Summit, will provide a platform for planning for new initiatives and strengthening the past programs and actions. The GHS offers a unique forum for the physicians of Indian origin to come together, sharing best practices, their knowledge and expertise in their respective medical fields with their fellow physicians from around the world, and to learn from one another.
AAPI in conjunction with several leading trauma specialists has developed the first set of guidelines for managing TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). As a part of this initiative AAPI will collaborate with Maharashtra Government to organize CPR and BLS training for approximately 500 police workers from Dec 20 to Dec 22 in collaboration with the American University of Antigua and Hinduja Hospital. By launching this campaign there will be immediate and positive impact and help prevent fatalities due to road accidents. In addition to 12 hours of Continuing Education, GHS features two signature Forums, including, Women’s Leadership Forum under the joint chairmanship between Dr. Asha Parikh and MrsAmrutaFadnavis. The CEOs Forum will focus on two very high priority areas for Government of India, one on global impact of Indian pharmaceutical products in providing cost effective medicines globally and secondly, the successful implementation of Ayushman Bharat the visionary and aspirational goal of providing healthcare to more than 500 million people of India. This session will bring together over 30 leading CEO’s, Hospital and Academicians and Government leaders according to the architect of this forum, Mr. Anwar Feroz Siddiqi.
More than 100 opinion leaders and expert speakers across the globe will present cutting edge scientific sessions findings related to clinical practice in cardiology, diabetes, allergy, immunology, oncology, gastroenterology, liver diseases and others, by speakers drawn from major centers of excellence, institutions and professional associations. This GHS will also feature the continuation of AYUSH and role of integrative medicine, an area that is being championed by Dr. Ajay Lodha. In addition a major Focus will be on Elimination of TB , another ambitious project where AAPI along with several key partners has launched a major campaign and program is already being implemented in 10 major centers, says Dr. Manoj Jain, Chair AAPI TB elimination program. The signing of a historic MOU between AAPI and USAID in April 2018 was the spring board. For relaxation and entertainment, there will be a kaleidoscope of cultural presentations of Western India, featuring well known artists. Being held in Mumbai, one cannot be surprised to have special appearance by top stars from the Bollywood world. Providing a forum for innovative opportunities for learning, networking and giving back to our motherland that have now enabled us to plan ahead and prepare for an outstanding event that will have over 300 very prominent and talented physicians and surgeons from abroad, in addition to the hundreds of physicians from India, who are very passionate about serving their homeland, mother India.
“With the changing trends and statistics in healthcare, both in India and US, we are refocusing our mission and vision of GHS 2018, and AAPI would like to make a positive meaningful impact on the healthcare in India,” Dr. Parikh says. “In our quest to fulfill the mission of AAPI, we are proud to share best practices and experiences from leading experts in the world and develop actionable plans for launching demonstration projects that enable access to affordable and quality healthcare for all people.” “With such a striking agenda, this 2018 Global Health Summit in Mumbai promises to be one of the best ever. Register ASAP - to get the better rooms and locations. There will be NO AAPI CANCELLATION CHARGES until November 1st, 2018 - just in case you may have to change plans afterwards. To help accomplish this mission, join us at the GHS 2018 in Mumbai.” For more information on Global Health Summit 2018, please visit: https://aapisummit.org/www.aapiusa.org
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Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah honored at American Heart Association 2018 Heart Ball
Dr. Zachariah(L)
Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah, one of the nation’s leading cardiologists, Medical Director of UHealth Cardiology in Fort Lauderdale,was honored by The American Heart Association at their annual Broward Heart Ball on Saturday, May 19th at the Ritz Carlton in Ft. Lauderdale. Dr. Zachariah, an Indian American cardiologist was honored for his lifelong work as a practicing cardiologist and for his commitment to his community, and for being instrumental in impacting many people affected by heart disease both locally and nationally.
“It’s a great honor and it’s humbling to be recognized by the noble organization, The American Heart Association, the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke, with a mission to foster appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke for nearly a century through funding of innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide critical tools and information to save and improve lives.”
Attended by hundreds of Broward’s medical, social, and philanthropic influencers in the community, at the gala, The American Heart Association raised nearly a million dollars. The American Heart Association’s Heart Ball is a nationwide gala that celebrates the organization’s mission and success in building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. “The Broward Heart Ball is a one-night celebration of our year-round efforts. It always inspires me to see a room full of individuals who love this community and care enough to give, so we can continue to build healthier lives in South Florida”, commented Scholl. Sponsors of this year’s Broward Heart Ball included: One Beat CPR and AED, Florida Panthers Foundation, La Croix and Ultimate Software.
Dr. Zachariah, a GOP fundraiser considered among the most influential Indian-American Republicans, has been a longtime friend of the Bush family. During the tenure of President George H. W. Bush, and his sons, President George W. Bush and two-term former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, he held several influential positions. He belonged to the White House Commission on Asian and Pacific Islanders. Currently Dr. Zachariah serves in the Advisory Board Of the Universal News Network,www.theunn.com . Dr. Zach Zachariah is the Medical Director of UHealth Cardiology, Fort Lauderdale and on the Clinical Faculty of the University of Miami. He also is the President of Fort Lauderdale Heart Institute in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He has been practicing interventional Cardiology at Holy Cross Hospital since 1976 and as its Director of Cardiovascular services till 2010. He serves on the executive committee of the Board of Trustees of Nova Southeastern University, a member of the Council of 100 and as a member of the National Board of ExcelinED in action.
He had served on the Florida Board of Governors of the State University system from 2003 to 2010 and as its chairman of the Trustee Committee. He has also served on the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health and as a member of the U.S. delegation to the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. He also served as Chairman of the Florida Board of Medicine from 1990-1992, 2000-2001 and 2013-2014. He also served as a member of the President’s advisory commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001. Dr. Zachariah is board-certified in internal medicine and cardiology and specializes in cardiology, cardiac catheterization, and interventional cardiology and has performed more than 30,000 heart catheterizations and interventional procedures in Broward County. He has also co-authored several scientific papers, and participated in various clinical trials.
He received his medical degree from the Armed Forces Medical College in India, and then completed his residency at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Paterson, New Jersey. He also completed a fellowship in interventional cardiology at the Cleveland Clinic Educational Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. Among the awards he has received include the Ellis Island American Legend Award, the Child Advocate of the Year Award, Father of the Year Award, Spirit of Life Award from City of Hope, the Golden Heart Award from the American Heart Association, Freedom Foundation Medal of Honor from the Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge, and Ellis Island Medal of Honor, Sister Innocent Hughes Award for his contribution to health and science by Holy Cross Hospital. In the past, 3 Florida Governors and the Cabinet have declared “Zachariah P. Zachariah Day” in Florida 5 times.
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Nearly 10 % Guwahati scribes carry excess fat in blood
Special ContributionBy Nava Thakuria
Dispur Hospital
Guwahati: A lipid profile screening camp, covering a group of working journalists, indicates the necessity of urgent medical attentions for nearly one-tenth of the participants as their cholesterol and triglycerides levels were found far above the permissible limits. Almost half of them need life style modification (read more physical activities), added the health camp report.
Among the participants (mostly male), who are members of Guwahati Press Club belonging to the age group of 25 to 65 years, 40% showed satisfactory outcomes they were reportedly maintaining good health. Assam’s popular healthcare institution Dispur Hospital conducted the screening camp for five days (staring on 9 April 2018) free of cost, where over 130 scribes participated and out of them 13 were diagnosed with high triglyceride levels.
Emphasizing on post-test consultations, the city based hospital has assigned an experienced physician on 19 April (between 2.30 pm and 5 pm) for counseling with the scribes about their blood reports. Dr Jayanta Bardoloi, a practicing physician and the managing director of Dispur Hospital advocates for regular lipid profile (lipid panel) test after certain ages, as it helps identifying genetic diseases and determining approximate risks for cardiovascular disease along with certain forms of pancreatitis.
As the doctors describe, the lipids are essential organic molecules found in blood and stored in tissues which play an important role in the functioning of a human body. The triglycerides indicate the excess fat in the body, which is stored in the fat cells. For an absolute reading, the lipid profile test is conducted after few hours of fasting. In general, if the reading remains less than 200 mg/dL, the person is safe, but if it goes above 400 mg/dL, (s)he needs medical attentions as the high triglycerides may increase the risk of heart disease and may be sign of metabolic disease like diabetes and hypertension.
The low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), also known as bad cholesterol, may cause coronary artery disease if not treated for years. However, the high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), commonly termed as good cholesterol, helps removing the LDL from blood vessels. It reduces the probability of heart diseases. A high level of cholesterol does not indicate the risk of heart disease as it night belonged to HDL. On the other hand, the very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) is also considered as one of the bad blood fat.
Lipid profile tests are essential for those who are overweight (or obese), regular alcohol consumers, chain smokers and having the family history of heart diseases. Moreover, who have suffered from kidney diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure, hypothyroid etc, should go for the test at regular intervals. It helps monitoring a person’s risk for cardiovascular diseases.
The city press club has been taking the healthcare awareness initiative for many years. Now it runs a weekly out-patient department clinic at the club premises for the benefit of over 300 active members. Many scribes with high blood sugar, hypertension, thyroid, uric acid etc were diagnosed in various health camps and were advised accordingly. Till date, it has organized over 100 free health camps providing benefits to hundreds of media persons.
Guwahati, the virtual capital of northeast India with a population of 20 lakh, today supports hundreds of journalists who are engaged in over 25 morning daily newspapers, hundreds of periodicals, five satellite news channels, few entertainment channels & FM radio along with a number of news portals based in the pre-historic city those disseminate news and other contents in Assamese, Hindi, English and other languages. The number of city based non-journalist media employees may go up to few thousands.
The club initiative has also been supported by GNRC Hospitals, Down Town Hospitals, Apollo Hospital (Chennai and Guwahati campus), SIMS Chennai Hospital, Manipal Hospital (Bangalore), Fortis Hospital (Bangalore), Medanta the Medicity Hospital (Gurgaon), Ayursundra Hospital, Barthakur Clinic, Wintrobe Hospital, Nemcare Hospital, Sun Valley Hospital, Excelcare Hospital, Rahman Hospital, Narayana Super-Specialty Hospitals, Swagat Super-Surgical Institute, Sight First eye-clinic etc. (The author is a journalist and secretary, Guwahati Press Club).
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AAPI to donate funds towards Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of America
ManushiChillar Miss World 2017 to be AAPI’s Brand Ambassador for Campaign Against Leukemia & Lymphoma
Chicago, IL: March 6th, 2018: “American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the most dynamic and ethnic organization representing more than 100,000 physicians of Indian origin, while officially launching a campaign against Leukemia and Lymphomas, is donating a large sum of money to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of America on March 10th during the annual AAPI Spring Governing Body meeting at the Freemont Marriott Silicon Valley, Fremont, CA,” declared Dr. Gautam Samadder, President of AAPI.
“Continuing with supporting noble causes, AAPI, the largest ethnic association representing the physicians of Indian origin in the USA, has taken on yet another cause to promote through its active support in educating people about the deadly disease around the world,” Dr. Vinod Shah, a past president of AAPI, and a well known philanthropist, said. Dr. Shah has agreed to match the money being provided by AAPI, thus doubling the donation through AAPI at this special event. “ManushiChillar Miss World 2017, will be present at the ceremony, during which AAPI will hand over the check to representatives from the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of America,” Dr. Naresh Parikh, President-Elect of AAPI, said. “Manushi, hailing from a family of doctors and scientists, an aspiring gynecologist and cardiac surgeon ManushiChillarhas agreed to be the Brand Ambassador of AAPI for creating awareness about the deadly diseases, Leukemia and Lymphoma.” The beauty queen believes that being brought up in Delhi, has given her the confidence and power to fight all odds and win the competition. "I am blessed to have got this opportunity, and I want to give my best. I have decided to take a year's break from my medical studies and my college is very supportive," says Chillar.
These days, Chillar is even seen showing her full support and involvement in spreading awareness about menstrual and feminine hygiene through her pet project 'Shakti'. She has been emphasizing on the need for educating the rural mass on the issue and has been a passionate advocate on why it is important for a woman to use a sanitary napkin.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, a 501 charitable organization, founded in 1949, is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services. The Governing Body meeting in san Francisco from March 9th to 11thwillbe composed of the Executive Committee, Members of the Board of Trustees, Chairs of all the Standing Committees, Chair of the Convention Committee as defined in Section 4.3 and the Presidents of all dues paid/paying member organizations.
“Coming from a nation that has given much to the world, today physicians of Indian origin have become a powerful influence in medicine across the world. Nowhere is their authority more keenly felt than in the United States, where Indians make up the largest non-Caucasian segment of the American medical community,” Dr. Samadder said. “The overrepresentation of Indians in the field of medicine is striking – in practical terms, one out of seven doctors in the United States is of Indian Heritage. We provide medical care to over 40 million of US population, caring for one in every seven patients in the nation. There are 150 AAPI Chapters across the nation and it has an ever growing membership of Indian American Physicians,” he reported.
AAPI is an umbrella organization representing dozens of local chapters, specialty societies and alumni organizations. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, AAPI represents the interests of over nearly 100,000 physicians, medical students and residents of Indian heritage in the United States. It is the largest ethnic medical organization in the nation. For more details, please visit: www.aapiusa.org
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Weekly health camps for scribes roll on
Special ContributionBy Nava Thakuria
At the Clinic
Basundhara (not her real name) often comes to the press club for meeting friends and kills extra time. Though she is working in the news desk of an Assamese newspaper, she had never worked as a mainstream reporter. But coming to press club she finds friends from both the print and television media and take the opportunity to hang out happily. In one such appearance at the press club premises, I asked her to check her thyroid level in our weekly evening out-patient-department (OPD) clinic that has been organized regularly organized since August 2016. Reluctantly Basundhara gave blood samples to the attending health workers. She also got her blood pressure and sugar checked in the camp.
Next day, the laboratory reports arrived at the press club office and Basundhara took away her one. In the evening hours, when I was busy tracking a news, she called me and before saying anything she started sobbing. It was astonishing as the jolly girl felt so nervous while speaking to me. ‘What happened’, she replied to my query with revelation that she was diagnosed with high thyroid (stimulating hormone) level and hence she was losing energy, joyfulness and gaining unusual weight. I just tried to console her that it was not a big deal. Every fourth Indian today suffers from thyroid related problems, but that can be treated with proper medical intervention.
Sailesh (name changed) normally comes to the press club only when there is a meeting of media persons as he lives at the outskirt of Guwahati. Once he arrives, Sailesh continues his natural lecturing with me on numerous issues irrespective of my interest. Not young at his age now, Sailesh he is a confirmed bachelor and claims that his big family would support him always. In one of our Saturday media clinics Sailesh casually checked his blood pressure. The nurse widened her eyes looking at the meter. Sailesh was diagnosed with hypertension (almost 180 by 110 mmHg). The attending doctor wanted to check his pressure and did it personally. The outcome remained the same.
The doctor asked if Sailesh had checked his pressure earlier. The answer was a big no. He had never checked it and justified his point that ‘listening to doctors was an unnecessary exercise as he had always enjoyed good health condition’. He even denied accepting his blood pressure readings. The doctor, mush younger to Sailesh, called me and requested to convince him that it was very dangerous to live with such high blood pressures as it could cause great harm to him. I asked Sailesh, who is my contemporary in the professional journalism, to listen to the doctor and follow the guidelines. For the sack of my advice, he listened to the doctor but refused to take medicines.
After almost a week, Sailesh came to the press club. He looked depressed with untidy dresses. I could see a small bandage on his head. ‘What’, Sailesh narrated a long story to my question. The substance is that he fell down at his home two days back and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where the attending doctors cautioned him about his hypertension. Sailesh survived this time with no internal injuries, which is often reported when an individual suddenly tumbles because of high blood pressure. He admitted his guilt for not taking the doctor’s advice seriously earlier and even showed me a strip of medicines, which he had started using regularly.
One can find a number of cases if goes through the record of Guwahati Press Club, which has launched the unique healthcare awareness programs last year. One of the active press clubs of northeast India, the organization has over 300 regular members who are mostly professional journalists working for local, national and international media outlets. Besides few regular programs like ‘Meet the Press’, ‘Guest of the Month’, ‘Media Fellowship’, ‘Health Camp’ etc, the 40 years old organization started a new weekly program titled ‘Evening with a Doctor’ in August 2016 with an aim to spread health awareness to its members along with their close relatives.
Under this program, a practicing physician is welcome to the press club premises on every Saturday evening , where the attending doctor interacts and also offered free health related consultations to the member-journalists with their families. Often screenings of weight, hypertension, blood sugar, bone density, pulmonary function, thyroid levels etc are organized and arranged for follow-up consultations. Started with initial supports from Dr Jayanta Bardoloi, managing director of Assam’s well known Dispur Hospital in raising a doctor's chamber at the club premises, the series of health camps have already emerged as a healthy hangout for the media persons. The endeavor has also helped diagnosing many journalists and their dependants with alarming high blood pressure, sugar and thyroid disorders. They were accordingly advised by the physicians for follow up actions.
Till date, physicians from a number of healthcare institutions of the country like Apollo Chennai Hospital, Chennai SIMS Hospital, Manipal Bangalore Hospital, Fortis Hospital Bangalore, Medanta the Medicity Hospital, Down Town Hospital, GNRC Hospitals, Dispur Hospital, Nemcare Hospital, Hayat Hospital, Ayursundra Hospital, Sun Valley Hospital, Barthakur Clinic, Wintrobe Hospital, Narayana Hospital, Excelcare Hospital, Sight First Eye-Clinic etc have attended the weekly camps. Over 90% media persons in the alienated region remain out of medical insurance coverage. Most of the journalists, engaged with regional newspapers and news channels, earn compromised salaries and nominal other benefits. Hence they cannot afford medical expenditures and often depend on financial supports from the government and donations from well wishers whenever there are medical emergencies in their families.
Even though the evening camps are being organized for the benefit of our members with their relatives, any journalist of the region (also the country) with their dependants are welcome to take the advantage of the clinics. Moreover the other media organizations including the press clubs of the region are being encouraged to take similar initiatives for enhancing the health status their members and also empowering the health journalism in this part of the populous country. Meet John (a rural journalist from Meghalaya), who came to meet me at the press club recently. It was a Saturday afternoon and I was talking to the invited doctor just before starting the weekly clinic. Quite naturally I asked John to check his blood sugar. Initially he declined saying, ‘I am fine; what is your inherent intention!’
But later he agreed and was subsequently diagnosed with high sugar level (almost 400 mg/dL). The doctor had a long conversation with John, who was at his fifties. Once the session is over, a nervous John came out of the chamber and made an outright comment on me, “Dost (friend), you make me a sick person from today. God bless you”. The author is an Assam based journalist and Secretary, Guwahati Press Club
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Kidney transplanted successfully at Dispur Hospital
Logo of Dispur Hospital
Guwahati: Assam’s well-known healthcare institution Dispur Hospital has joined the list of successful kidney transplantation centers in India. The city based hospital had successfully conducted a kidney transplantation exercise on 5 October 2017.
The male recipient, 32, hails from Bongaigaon in western Assam, was offered a kidney by his mother with the same blood group and he was discharged after 13 days stay in the hospital after the operation. The serum creatinine of the patient was recorded at 1.3 at the time of discharge.
The procedure was carried out under the supervision of senior consultant urologist & transplant surgeon Dr PM Deka and consultant nephrologist & renal transplant physician Dr TA Choudhury at Dispur Hospital, informed the city based hospital’s public relation authority Ujjal Saikia.
It may be noted that kidney ailments across the globe have been ranked as the third most fatal disease after cancer and cardiac illness. Nearly 100 million people die annually because of kidney diseases in the world. In India, over 2.5 lakh people die with kidney diseases every year. The populous nation needs not less than 90,000 kidney transplants annually, where as it can afford only 5000 renal operations in around70 official kidney transplant centers across the country.
“We congratulate the physicians involved in the complex surgical exercise that needs highly skilled consultants, resourceful technical staff with advanced technology, which is now available at our hospital. The healthy post-operation life of the recipient gives us a great satisfaction,” said Dr Jayanta Bardoloi, managing director of Dispur Hospital. He added that the hospital would continue renal transplantation at an affordable cost in future.
Speaking about the country’s kidney-health status, Dr Bardoloi revealed that India had been increasing the number of end-stage renal disease patients, when the kidneys start failing to remove excess waste and fluids from the human body compelling the patients to put on dialysis urgently. He also pointed out that high blood sugar and hypertension are two most common causes leading to kidney ailments.
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SIMS Chennai doctor to grace media OPD
Special ContributionBy NJ Thakuria
At Guwahati Press Club
Guwahati: Commended gastro surgeon Dr Patta Radhakrishna from SIMS Hospital Chennai will grace the next weekly evening OPD clinic at Guwahati Press Club on 27 October (Friday) 2017. The practicing doctor will be available for free consultations to the participants from 3 to 5 pm at the press club premises.
The last camp on 21 October, organized by the active press club of northeast India under the ‘Evening with a Doctor’ initiative for the benefit of its members along with their dependants, was attended by acclaimed medicine specialist Dr Brajendra Lahkar from Assam’s well known Dispur Hospital.
The hospital’s public relation officer Ujjal Saikia, staff nurse Jon Prabha Deori and officials from Lupin Pharma company assisted in conducting the camp. Besides free consultations, the participants also got the opportunity to check their weight, blood pressure & sugar, bone density and pulmonary functions in the camp.
Launched in August 2016 with initial supports from Dr Jayanta Bardoloi, managing director of Dispur Hospital in raising a doctor's chamber at the press club premises, the series of camps have emerged as a ‘healthy & rewarding hangout’ for the media persons. Many working journalists with high blood pressure & sugar were diagnosed in the camps and they were advised for follow up actions accordingly.
Till date, practicing physicians from Apollo Chennai Hospital, SIMS Hospital Chennai, Manipal Bangalore Hospital, Fortis Hospital Bangalore, Medanta the Medicity Hospital, Down Town Hospital, GNRC Hospitals, Hayat Hospital, Ayursundra Hospital, Nemcare Hospital, Sun Valley Hospital, Sight First Eye-Clinic, Barthakur Clinic, Wintrobe Hospital etc have attended the camps.
Even though the camps are primarily organised for the benefit of press club members with their close relatives, any journalist of the region (also the country) with their family members may take the advantage of the clinics, said a statement from the pioneer press club of northeast India adding that similar initiatives are also encouraged in other parts of the region.
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Physiotherapy Camp
Special ContributionBy NJ Thakuria
Hayat Hospital conducts Saturday OPD clinic
Guwahati: On the occasion of World Physiotherapy Day, a physiotherapy camp was organized at Guwahati Press Club on 8 September 2017 for the benefit of its member-journalists. The free camp witnessed the participation of over 30 media persons.
The camp was conducted by senior physiotherapists namely Dr Kangkan Talukdar (PT), Dr Lopa Das (PT), Dr Pankaj Das (PT), Dr Pooja Saikia (PT), Dr Chinmoyee Boruah (PT), Dr Lav Gahire (PT).
They were assisted by Himashree Medhi, Benjamin VL, Anuradha Das, Gautam Das, Rijuwana Purveen from College of Physiotherapy & Medical Sciences (Bonda) and Rupam Kalita, Munindra Gogoi, Soni Phom, Sneha Das, Sasanka Mahanta from Regional College of Paramedical Health Sciences (Panjabari).
On the other hand, the Saturday evening OPD clinic at the press club premises will be graced by Dr Nasimur Riaz (Diabetologist) and Dr Pragyan Kalita (Senior Resident) from the Hayat Hospital. The participants will receive free medical consultations as well as their weight, blood sugar and pressure would be checked in the camp.
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Emerge Diagnostic conducts media clinic
Special ContributionBy NJ Thakuria
OPD clinic at Guwahati Press Club
Guwahati: The city based Emerge Diagnostic under the guidance of Dr Dhrubajyoti Gogoi on Saturday conducted the evening OPD clinic at Guwahati Press Club (GPC) for the benefit of its members along with their dependants. The 17 June health camp, organized under the series of GPC’s ‘Evening with a Doctor’ programs, helped nearly 50 participants to check their blood pressure & sugar with haemoglobin, cholesterol, bilirubin, creatinine etc.
The camp was supported by health workers namely Aminul Islam, Khanin Deka and Hemanta Deka from the pathology laboratory. The unique healthcare initiative was launched by eastern India’s pioneer pressmen’s organization GPC last year, where well-known institution Dispur Hospitals extended initial support to raise a doctor’s chamber at the club premises in August 2016. The premier hospital under the leaderships of Dr Jayanta Bardoloi also conducted the first episode of the media clinics.
Till date, practicing doctors from Apollo Chennai Hospital, Medanta-the Medicity Hospital, Manipal Bangalore Hospital, Down Town Hospitals, GNRC Hospitals, Dispur Hospitals, Wintrobe Hospital, Narayana Super-Specialty Hospitals, Swagat Super-Surgical Institute, Shankardev Nethralaya Guwahati, Barthakur Clinic, Rahman Hospitals, Sun Valley Hospital, Government Ayurvedic College, MMC Panbazar, Institute of Dental Science & Research Center etc have attended the camps.
The next OPD clinic at GPC will be conducted by Sight First Eye-Clinic on 24 June, where Dr Shubhra Kinkor Goswami would supervise the camp. The 1 July media camp is assigned to the city based Nemcare Hospital and 8 July for the Bangalore based Fortis Hospitals.
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Manipal Hospital Bangalore to conduct next GPC clinic
Special ContributionBy NJ Thakuria
Dr Sankaran Sundar
Guwahati: The next Saturday evening OPD clinic at Guwahati Press Club will be conducted by a well-known kidney ailment expert from Manipal Hospital Bangalore. Dr Sankaran Sundar, senior consultant Nephrologist and head of international kidney transplantation program of the hospital will be available for free consultations to member-journalists of the press club along with their dependents. The camp, organized under the series of 'Evening with a Doctor' programs, will begin at 2 pm on 13 May 2017 and continue till 4 pm.
Earlier on 6 May senior gynecologist from Apollo Chennai Hospital, Dr A Vinutha graced the camp exclusively organized for the women journalists along with the spouses (and daughters) of Guwahati Press Club members at the club premises. Prior to it, Dr Vinutha also delivered a talk on various women related ailments and their preventions at the club auditorium.
It may be mentioned that eastern India’s one of the pioneer press clubs launched the unique healthcare initiative last year. Assam’s Dispur Hospitals initially supported the endeavour with raising a doctor’s chamber at the club premises in August 2016. The city based hospital under the leaderships of Dr Jayanta Bardoloi also conducted the first episode of evening OPD clinics.
Till date a number of practicing doctors from Medanta-the Medicity Hospital, Apollo Chennai Hospital, GNRC Group of Hospitals, Down Town Hospitals, Narayana Super-Specialty Hospitals, Swagat Super-Surgical Institute, Sankaradeva Nethralaya Guwahati, Wintrobe Hospital, Barthakur Clinic, Nemcare Hospital, Rahman Hospitals, Sun Valley Hospital, Sight First eye-clinic, Government Ayurvedic College, MMC Panbazar, Institute of Dental Science & Research Center etc attended the camps.
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AAPI praises contributions of its member, past US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy
Dr. Vivek Murthy
(New York, NY: April 23, 2017) “On behalf of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), I want to applaud the many contributions and initiatives of Dr. Vivek Murthy, our AAPI member, in the healthcare sector in very short span of about two years since he became US Surgeon General in 2014,” said Dr. Ajay Lodha, President of AAPI.
Dr. Murthy has attended several AAPI meetings and has always acknowledged the contributions of AAPI and the Indian community in his statement which he quoted as ,"I am proud of our community of Indian physicians for all the progress that we have made over the years, and I know that AAPI has been a critical force in making this process possible. The advice you shared and assistance you kindly offered were important pieces of this journey,”
The growing influence of doctors of Indian heritage is evident, as increasingly physicians of Indian origin hold critical positions in the healthcare, academic, research and administrative positions across the nation. With their hard work, dedication, compassion, and skills, they have thus carved an enviable niche in the American medical community. AAPI’s role has come to be recognized as vital among members and among lawmakers.
The surgeon general represents the Health and Human Services Secretary in addressing public health practice in the nation. Murthy, 39, was America's youngest-ever top doctor, and is also the first surgeon general of Indian-American representing the next generation of Indian American physician. His ethics, quiet leadership style and impeccable credentials made him the smart choice for this position.
Dr. Murthy, grand son of a farmer ,second generation Indian American physician ,said, he will always be grateful to “our country for welcoming my immigrant family nearly 40 years ago and giving me this opportunity to serve. Dr. Murthy played key role in bringing to the forefront many crucial health issues confronting the nation. In a landmark report on addiction released in November, said dependency on opioids and other substances must not be looked on as a "character flaw," in the first publication from a surgeon general that has addressed drug and alcohol addiction.
Murthy embarked on a three-month listening tour of the U.S. ahead of a ceremonial swearing in to listen to the people and professionals before taking on this important role. AAPI is shocked and saddened with his departure and wishes him well as he moves on to a new phase in life and is confident that his talents. skills, and experiences will be utilized effectively for the greater good of the nation.
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Media OPD clinic at Guwahati Press Club carried on
By NJ Thakuria
OPD clinic at Guwahati
Guwahati: Media persons in the pre-historic city of Guwahati start showing an impressive interest and outcome in healthcare awareness, as a local press club has initiated for running a weekly evening OPD clinic for its members along with their dependants. The Saturday clinic organized at Guwahati Press Club in presence of practicing doctors from various hospitals for free consultations has already completed seven months of its inception in last year.
“Every clinic provides us a rare opportunity to identify one or two journalists with higher blood pressure, blood sugar or other risky tendency. As we have lost many young journalists because of irregular life-styles with less awareness on physical status, the regular consultations with experienced doctors should make a difference,” said a statement of the press club.
The last camp under the banner of ‘Evening with a Doctor’, was conducted by the newly launched Ayursundra Superspecialty Hospital on 1 April 2017. Dr Prerit Sarma (Emergency Medicine) and Dr Ayona Barthakur (O&G) checked the health status of over 35 participants and offered necessary consultations. Besides health related free consultations, the participants also got the facility of weight, blood pressure & sugar examinations in the camp.
It may be mentioned that the unique healthcare program was started in last August with initial supports from Dr Jayanta Bardoloi, managing director of Dispur Hospitals for raising a doctor’s chamber at the press club premises. The city based hospital also conducted the first evening clinic and kicked off the noble initiative.
Till date, doctors from Medanta-the Medicity Hospital, Apollo Chennai Hospital, GNRC Group of Hospitals, Down Town Hospitals, Narayana Super-Specialty Hospitals, Swagat Super-Surgical Institute, Sankaradeva Nethralaya Guwahati, Wintrobe Hospital, Barthakur Clinic, Nemcare Hospital, Rahman Hospitals, Sun Valley Hospital, Sight First eye-clinic, Government Ayurvedic College, Institute of Dental Science & Research Center etc have graced the occasions.
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World Kidney Day observed at Dispur Hospitals
Special ContributionBy NJ Thakuria
At Kidney Day
Guwahati: Northeast’s well-known healthcare institution Dispur Hospitals, along with numerous health conscious organizations across the globe, today (9 March 2017) observed the World Kidney Day with various programs including a free health camp at the hospital premises.
With an aim to increase public awareness about a healthy lifestyle paving the way to keep the kidneys fit, a walkathon was organized at the Ganeshguri locality of the pre-historic city in the morning hours. Journalist Nava Thakuria in presence of Dr Jayanta Bardoloi, managing director of Dispur Hospitals flagged off the program.
It may be noted that the kidney day is observed globally on 2nd Thursday of March every year. It started the voyage in 2006 with 66 countries which now increases nearly 100 today. The celebrations emphasize on the importance of two kidneys, which are smaller in size, but very much responsible to keep a human body alive.
The celebration highlights on regular and systematic screening of kidneys of those individuals who suffer from diabetes and high blood pressure which may lead to the chronic kidney diseases. Moreover, the observation aims to encourage the process of kidney donation & transplantation as a best option of life saving.
The free kidney check-up camp at the hospital premises was conducted by Dr PM Deka, Dr TA Choudhury, Dr Joynil Bagwade and Dr Rohan Batra, where over hundred participants received necessary consultations on nephrology and urology.
Dispur Hospitals’ public relation officer Ujjal Saikia, while elaborating the available facilities including the 24-hour dialysis, home (delivery) dialysis, image-guided kidney biopsy, kidney transplantation, AVF creation, permcath insertion etc in affordable costs, offered thanks to everyone who participated in the programs pursuing for healthy kidneys meaning a longer and productive life-span.
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Rahman Hospital doctors conduct GPC evening clinic
Special ContributionBy NJ Thakuria
Rahman Hospital doctors
Guwahati: Assam’s well known Rahman Hospitals conducted the last Saturday evening OPD clinic at Guwahati Press Club (GPC), where Dr Hemen Ch Goswami & Dr P Rojer Singh (Medicine) checked the health status of over 30 participants and provided them free consultations.
The member-journalists of GPC along with their dependants also got their weight, blood pressure & sugar checked by nurses namely Momi Begum and Asha Devi. Most of the participants were also offered necessary medicines.
Senior physicians Dr Muhammad Liaquat Ali Rahman and Dr MMM Kazi from the city based hospital also graced the camp, where health workers Manab Deka and Nazrul Islam assisted the participants in the process of preliminary diagnosis & consultations.
The next camp GPC’s series of ‘Evening with a Doctor’ programs will be conducted by the Panbazar, Guwahati based Institute of Dental Science & Research Center on 4 March 2017. Dr Deep Sharma and Dr Nirmala K Roy will be present for general oral & dental health diagnosis & treatment planning. The health camp will begin at press club premises by 3 pm and continue till 6 pm.
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‘Evening with a Doctor’ program completes six months
St the ‘Evening with a Doctor’
Guwahati: A unique and innovative healthcare initiative, run by Guwahati Press Club, has completed six months. Under the program, titled ‘Evening with a Doctor’, the member-journalists of the northeast India based press club along with their dependants have been offered free consultation & primary treatments by experienced physicians from various healthcare institutions of the country.
The last evening clinic at the press club on 11 February was conducted by the city based Dispur Hospital, where Dr Raj Kumar Dutta (Medicine) provided free consultations to over 25 media persons along with their families. They also got their weight, blood pressure & sugar checked by Champak Goswami (laboratory technician) and Jonprova Devi (nurse).
The previous evening OPD was graced by Dr Vinay Singal from the Gurgaon based Medanta-The Medicity Hospital. Practicing doctors from Apollo Hospitals Chennai, Narayana Super-Specialty Hospitals, GNRC Group of Hospitals, Down Town Hospitals, Swagat Super-Surgical Institute, Wintrobe Hospital, Barthakur Clinic, Nemcare Hospital, Sun Valley Hospital, Sight First eye-clinic, Sankaradeva Nethralaya, Government Ayurvedic College etc had earlier conducted the camps.
Joining the series, the Hayat Hospital announced various concessions for the scribes with their families in OPD/doctor consultation charges (100 per cent), room rent (25 %), lab investigation (20 %), CT/USG/X-ray (20 %), MRI/MR angiography (20 %), EEG, ECG,TMT, HOLTER, ECHO (20 %), colonoscopy & endoscopy (20 %), operation theatre charges (10 %) and medicines (5 %).
It may be noted that the Dispur Hospitals, under the leadership of Dr Jayanta Bardoloi, supported the initiative to raise a doctor’s chamber last year at the press club premises. Besides personal healthcare, the initiative is expected to help the scribes to understand various aspects of healthiness in a better way that should encourage the journalists to cover the sector with more authenticities.
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Dr. Chitra Dinakar: A thought leader in the field of food allergy Committed to helping Asian Indian kids with food allergy
Special ContributionBy Ajay Ghosh
Dr. Chitra Dinakar receives Distinguished Fellow Award from American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology
“I have increasingly been seeing children with food allergies in my clinic and in my social circles, with many of them having severe, life-threatening allergies to multiple foods,” says Dr. Chitra Dinakar is Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Director, FARE Center of Excellence at Children's Mercy, Division of Allergy/Immunology at Children’s Mercy Hospital. According to her, what she saw in her patients had a direct similarity with recent data that food allergy is considered to be the second wave of the allergy epidemic with up to 8% of children having food allergies in the USA.
Dr. Dinakar was deeply concerned that “a significant percentage of them were of Asian Indian origin, and whose parents and grandparents had no history or knowledge of food allergies. Moreover, some of them had allergies to foods that were not commonly reported in the USA population (e.g. urud dal), and hence were finding it challenging to get appropriately diagnosed and treated.”
These concerns and studies prompted Dr. Dinakar, who had completed her fellowship in Allergy/Immunology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio, and has been at Children’s Mercy since then, to review the scarce literature published on this topic and her search revealed the possibility that Asians have higher odds of food allergy compared with white children, but significantly lower odds of formal diagnosis. Dr. Dinakar who began her new career in January 2017 as the Gies Endowed Faculty Scholar and Clinical Professor in Food Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Research at the Sean N Parker Center, Stanford University, found that immigrant populations tended to develop the diseases of the society they migrated to. Australian-born Asians had higher odds of developing atopic disease when compared to Asian-born immigrants, and foreign-born children had an initially lower prevalence of atopic disease, which increased after residing in US for more than10 years.
“I also discovered that there is a significant knowledge gap regarding food allergy trends in the Asian Indian population in the US,” Dr. Dinakar says. According to her, Asian Indians have an ethnically unique diet and may have ‘unusual’ or ‘different’ food allergies than the "Top 8" (milk, egg, wheat, soy, peanut, tree nuts, fish, shellfish). And there are standardized tests to diagnose these food allergies or recommendations regarding cross-reactive patterns and foods that are a must-avoid. To her surprise, the young Indian allergist also found that Asian Indians as a demographic population is typically left out of most large-scale studies since they do not meet the National Institutes of Health inclusion criteria for "minority " or "medically underserved" groups. “I therefore believe it is critically important to recognize, diagnose, and treat these unique allergies in this understudied population to optimize nutrition and growth,” says Dr. Dinakar.
Dr. Dinakar chaired the Joint Task Force Practice Parameter Workgroup on Yellow Zone Management of Asthma Exacerbations. She has served on review panels for grant funding programs such as the National Institutes of Health, and has been a member of the UMKC Pediatric Institutional Review Board. She has been involved in more than 50 investigator-initiated, NIH-sponsored, and industry-sponsored clinical trials, and has over 45 peer-reviewed publications, and 2 book chapters. She is an invited speaker at national and international allergy conferences, and mentors junior faculty, A/I fellows, residents and medical trainees.
Loving children comes naturally to this young physician of Indian origin. The opportunity to help care for the health and well-being of the future citizens of India, comprising over one thirds of its population, was compelling and irresistible, inspired her to take up this noble Medical profession. On graduating as the valedictorian from high-school, she was fortunate to be selected to join one of the premier medical institutions in India, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER). Admission at JIPMER is through a nationally competitive entrance examination, and all admitted students receive a generous tuition scholarship from the government of India, which made the decision easy for her. Dr. Dinakar has been passionately interested in studying food allergy trends among Asian Indians for several years. She began with a pilot survey launched in Kansas City that showed there was a variety of food allergies reported in Asian Indians. She then extended her study to capture a larger cohort throughout the USA in the form of a multi center collaboration with Dr. Ruchi Gupta, an accomplished pediatrician and food allergy/asthma researcher, from Northwestern University. IRB approval was obtained at the two collaborating institutions, Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.
The aims of the Asian Indian Food Allergy Survey were to 1) understand generational differences in food allergy in the Asian Indian population living in the USA 2) determine the top food allergens in this specific population, 3) and to better understand the interplay between genetics and the environment in the development of atopic illness. We hope to capture child and parent demographics (including birth country and state, age of migration), history and nature of food allergy diagnosis (including symptoms, age of onset, and testing), and the presence of other atopic illnesses. The key inclusion criteria include being of Asian Indian heritage living in the USA and having a child with food allergy. At the end of the study, Dr. Dinakar and her team reported the preliminary results of the study at an invited oral presentation at the International Food Allergy Symposium, ACAAI Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX in Nov 2015. Among the 114 Asian Indian children with food allergies approximately two-thirds of the allergies were reported to be diagnosed by a physician. Over two-thirds of them were diagnosed by blood or skin allergy tests, and approximately one-third were revealed through a supervised oral food challenge. Tree nut was the most common food allergy in this population and was reported in six out of every 10 children. This finding was unexpected since it is not the most common food allergy in the general population of the U.S.A.
Dr. Dinakar notes that, some of other food allergies noted were to chickpea flour, capsicum (variant of green pepper), and to Indian lentils. Despite the small sample size, a large variety of food allergens that are typically not seen in the general population was reported, including foods such as avocado, banana, beef, bulgur wheat, coconut, corn, eggplant, food dye, garlic, ginger, green peas, jalapeño peppers, kiwi, melon, rice and tomato. Additionally, one in ten parents self-reported that they had a food allergy. “While the study is still on-going, the preliminary findings are important as they reveal that individuals of Indian descent living in the US tend to be allergic to foods that are frequently not thought of as common food allergens,” Dr. Dinakar, whose expertise includes pediatric asthma, food allergic disorders, atopic and immunological disorders, and health care quality and outcomes, and the Principal Investigator at the Children's Mercy Food Allergy Center, one of the 22 members of the Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) Clinical Trials Network and Centers of Excellence, says. “I will follow up on this study by evaluating allergic diseases in the Indian subcontinent and determine reasons for the exponential spike.”
Dr. Dinakar, who serves on the Editorial boards of four reputed Allergy/Immunology journals (AllergyWatch (Associate Editor); Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology; Allergy and Asthma Proceedings; Current Treatment Options in Allergy), and serves as the USA Regional Editor of the World Allergy Organization Web Editorial Board, invites all families of Indian origin to participate in the collection of this critically important information at the link below. In order to participate in the survey, please visit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SouthAsianFoodAllergySurvey
“The data we capture will enable us to start gaining an understanding of why Asian Indian families in the USA are increasingly developing severe allergic diseases such as food allergies, asthma and environmental allergies. It will also help us develop appropriate treatment and prevention strategies for this unique population, one that is typically not well-represented in routine research studies.” The ongoing survey is part of a study being conducted by researchers at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, MO and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago in Chicago, IL. The principal researcher for this study is Chitra Dinakar, MD. Children’s Mercy on Broadway.
As of today, about 350 individuals have responded to the surve, while the team would like to have a group of 1000 or more from different regions of this country to participate in the survey, so that it would adequately reflect the food allergy status of the Asian Indian population living in the USA. This research study is for adults and children with food allergies who are of Asian Indian origin. The researchers are exploring the types of foods which cause food-allergy reactions among adults and children of Asian Indian origin. This data gathered will be used to advance knowledge regarding allergies among individuals of Asian Indian origin.
Dr. Dinakar has served in leadership capacities at national Allergy/Immunology organizations. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Allergy and Immunology (ABAI). She was on the Board of Regents of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) and Chair of Health Care Delivery and Quality Interest Section of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI). She also serves on the Executive Committee of the Section of Allergy/Immunology in the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP-SOAI) and is an elected member of the prestigious American Pediatric Societies (APS). She is a former President of the Greater Kansas City Allergy Society and a former Board member of the Shawnee Mission Education Foundation. She is a board member of the Food Equality Initiative and the Food Allergy Support Group of Greater Kansas City.
“It is energizing to me to know that colleagues I admire and respect believe in my passions,” says Dr. Dinkar with a sens of pride and accomplishment. “At the same time, it is humbling to realize that this honor was possible only because of the unstinting mentorship and encouragement of path-breaking leaders and supportive colleagues. I have found that almost every person I encounter has a story to tell, and their personal battles and victories inspire and motivate me. To me, therefore, the awards are a reflection of the collective "goodness" of the amazing people I have been fortunate to interact with in my life.”
Having had the benefit of experiencing healthcare delivery in two nations, both In India and the US, at near-opposite ends of the spectrum, Dr. Dinakar is well aware of the breakthroughs and limitations in healthcare globally. “I am passionate about minimizing health care disparities and moving healthcare quality forward in every which way I can, one baby step at a time. Having been blessed with receiving top-notch training in both India and the USA, I am passionate about advancing cutting-edge research knowledge in both these countries, and using the expertise and understanding gained to improve global health.” She hopes that her new assignment atto Stanford University as the Gies Endowed Faculty Scholar and Clinical Professor for Food Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Research at the Sean N Parker Center, “will enable me to accomplish my goals.”
Dr. Dinakar, who has been awarded with numerous awards was the recipient of the “Distinguished Fellow Award, American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology in 2016. “I was honored to receive the "Distinguished Fellow Award" from the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), a professional organization of more than 6900 allergists/immunologists from across the world, at their annual meeting in November, 2016. According to the ACAAI website, this award is presented to "a Fellow who has made significant contributions to allergy, asthma or immunology in the United States or Canada and/or has an outstanding reputation as a clinician/teacher, dedication to ACAAI activities, scholarly achievement and leadership qualities". In the words of Dr. Bryan Martin, the President of the ACAAI, "Dr. Dinakar is incredibly active in the College and has been instrumental in the quality of College educational endeavors. She supports the practicing allergist as a Director of the ABAI, and the College representative on the Council of Pediatrics Subspecialties. She is a wonderful mentor and tireless worker for the allergy community.”
Last year, she was thrilled to receive "The Woman in Allergy Award" by the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). The annual award "honors an individual who has advanced the role of women in medicine or made a significant contribution to the specialty". In the words of the 2016 ACAAI President Dr. James Sublett, “Dr. Dinakar is one of those “go-to individuals” who is always willing, when asked, to step up and take a leadership role. Whether it’s leading the development of a Practice Parameter, or chairing a College committee, we know the job will be done well and on time.”
Some of the awards Dr. Dinakar was bestowed with include, “Excellence in Service” (for Distinguished Editorial Service), Missouri State Medical Association (2016), "Woman in Allergy Award" by the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (2015), “Acellus Teacher of the Year” award by the International Academy of Science (2015), the "Award of Excellence" by the American Association of Allergists & Immunologists of Indian Origin (AAAII, 2009), "Golden Apple Mercy Mentor Award" by Children’s Mercy Hospital, and an honorary “Kentucky Colonel” awarded by the Governor of Kentucky. She is listed on the Consumer Research Council’s ‘Guide to America’s Top Pediatricians’; Best Doctors in America; Kansas City Magazine’s ‘SuperDocs’ and ‘435 Magazine’ Best Doctors. Being a pediatrician, and a mother of two young college boys- the older a sophomore at Stanford, and the younger a Freshman at UC Berkeley- Dr. Dinakar is an unabashed and ardent believer in the power and ability of the future global citizens to take mankind forward.
Dr. Dinakar also believes that many young Indian Americans are doubly blessed with having the benefit of both "Nature and Nurture." In other words, the majority of them have inherited priceless genes and drive that brought their incredibly hard-working and motivated parents/grandparents to cross continents in a desire to ensure a robust future for their progeny. According to Dr. Dinakar, “while there are unique generational, cultural, language, social and economic challenges in growing up as the children of immigrants in the USA, the opportunities presented to them are limitless. After all, this is "the land where dreams come true!" Addressing the young Indian Americans, Dr. Dinakar says, “You are extraordinarily gifted and loved beyond measure. Feel empowered to unlock your phenomenal potential and translate your dreams into reality.”
Dr. Dinakar finds time and passion to be actively involved in very aspect of her family life. “I believe that my family is a microcosm of the world around me, and how I interact with my family defines and shapes how I interact with the world. I believe that each one of the members of my family tree (vertically and horizontally) is exceptional and extraordinary, and am deeply grateful for the countless ways in which they have enriched and fostered my growth, either directly or by example.”
“I am a kinetic person and enjoy putting my fast muscle fibers and mitochondria to work,” describes Dr. Dinakar of herself. A classically trained Bharathnatyam dancer, she learned ballroom dancing after coming to the USA. She revels in all kinds of dance movements, including Bollywood. A competitive track athlete in school/college, she says, “nostalgic memories motivate me to represent my hospital in the annual Kansas City-wide Corporate Challenge events, where I typically medal in the 100m and 400m sprints, and Long Jump events.” She was the captain of the basketball team in medical school and “I play 2 on 2 basketball with my boys in the driveway, when the weather permits. My boys are talented musicians and I enjoy listening to them. I also love reading good books and watching movies, though I wish there were 36 hours in a day!” Ajay Ghosh Phone # (203) 583-6750
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Ayurvedic doctors to attend press club clinic
Dr Jayanta Sarmah (R)
Guwahati: The next Saturday evening OPD at Guwahati Press Club (GPC) will be attended by a group of physicians from the Government Ayurvedic College, Jalukbari (Assam). Led by Dr Jayanta Sarmah, the group of doctors including Dr Chiranjib Mahanta , Dr Ajay Barman, Dr Susmita Pegu and Dr Purnima Deori will examine the health of GPC members along with their dependents with random blood sugar, blood pressure and BMI tests. The 17 December 2016 camp will begin on 3.30 pm and continue till 6 pm.
The last Evening with a Doctor program was graced by Dr KN Srinivasan, consultant cardiologist from Apollo Hospitals, Chennai. Over 25 media persons with their close relatives participated in the camp on 10 December, where one third of them were advised for further course of treatments. Two Apollo hospital executives namely Roopjyoti Baruah and Kamalesh Chakrabarty supported the GPC to organize the clinic.
Till date, practicing physicians from Dispur Hospitals, Down Town Hospitals, GNRC Group of Hospitals, Narayana Super-Specialty Hospitals, Swagat Super-Surgical Institute, Wintrobe Hospital, Nemcare Hospital, Sun Valley Hospital etc have conducted the weekly camps in the press club.
Similarly, Medanta-The Medicity Hospital Gurgaon, Gauhati Medical College, Apollo Hospitals Hyderabad, Barthakur Clinic, Sri Sankaradeva Nethralaya Guwahati etc have shown interest in conducting the healthcare consultation programs in the coming days. It may be noted that Assam's well known Dispur Hospitals Pvt Ltd, under the leadership of Dr Jayanta Bardoloi, supported the initiative to raise a doctor's chamber at the press club premises, which was inaugurated by young citizens namely Dhiman, Kristi, Shantanava, Arya, Shambhavi, Nistha and Arunava on the occasion of 70th Independence Day.
"Besides personal health, the initiative is expected to help the scribes to understand various aspects of preventive healthcare in a better way that should encourage them to cover the sector with more authenticity & credibility," said a GPC statement adding that though the initiative was formulated primarily for the benefit of its members, anyone related to the profession is welcome to participate in the program.
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GNRC doctors conducted press club OPD
Special ContributionBy Nava Thakuria
GNRC doctors
Guwahati: GNRC hospital conducted the last ‘Evening with a Doctor’ program at Guwahati Press Club (GPC) in northeast India on 5 November 2016 for the benefit of media persons along with their close relatives. The free health camp was attended by neurosurgeon Dr Naba Jyoti Borah and general physician Dr Aakashi Deka from the acclaimed hospital.
Nearly 25 participants got the opportunity to check their blood pressure in the OPD. Mrinal Ali Hazarika, public relations officer of GNRC group along with nurse Ms Iban also oversaw the program. The last Saturday media health camp was postponed due to Deepawali celebration.
The 22 October evening camp was conducted by the city based Sun Valley hospital on, where Dr Tapan Sarma (Medicine) provided healthcare consultations to over 30 participants. The physician was assisted by staff nurses namely Kiniholi Sumi, Naw Naucy, Bobi Senapoti and Rashmi Bordoloi in conducting the camp which was also graced by Sun Valley hospital managing director AC Hazarika along with the directors AK Pathak & K Barman along with Dr Bikash Bhattacharjee.
It may be mentioned that the evening OPD on every Saturday at the press club was started from August 20 in the presence of Dr Kashyap, Kr Das (Department of Medicine Dispur Hospitals) along with few health workers.
Assam's well known Dispur Hospitals Pvt Ltd under the leadership of Dr Jayanta Bardoloi took the initiative to raise a doctor's chamber at the Press Club premises, which was inaugurated by young citizens namely Dhiman, Kristi, Shantanava, Arya, Shambhavi, Nistha and Arunava on the occasion of the 70th Independence Day.
Later, free camps were graced by Dr Swapnaav Barthakur (Medicine), Dr Ruma Dutta (O&G) from Down Town Hospitals, Dr Nitin Gupta (Urology), Dr Juri Talukdar (General Practitioner), Dr Debanga Borah (Cardiology) from Wintrobe Hospital, Dr Rajib Das (Cardiology), Dr Bikash Rai Das from GNRC Group of hospitals, Dr Amit Saha (Medicine) from Swagat hospital, Dr Nazmul Haque (Medicine) from Narayana Super-Specialty Hospitals and Dr Nareswar Barman (Cardiology), Dr Bikash Kumar Das (Medicine) and Dr Hitesh Baruah from Nemcare hospital.
"Though the initiative has been formulated primarily for the benefit of GPC members, anyone related to journalism is encouraged to take advantage of it," said GPC president Sanjib Phukan, adding that the scribes based in other parts of the country are also welcome for the program, if incidentally they are in the city during the specified period.
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Assam’s Dispur Hospitals to observe World Heart Day
The World Heart Day
Guwahati: The city based Dispur Hospitals prepare to observe the World Heart Day on 29 September next with the global spirit to reduce the number of cardiovascular patients. The popular private hospital of northeast India will organize a free health camp on the occasion. The camp, scheduled to begin at 9 am (and to continue till 2 pm) on the hospital campus at Ganeshguri locality, will be open for the citizens, where the participants would get the opportunity to check various heart related parameters like blood pressure, blood sugar, electrocardiograph etc.
Mentionable is that the heart day is observed every year across the globe with an aim to raise awareness about cardiovascular diseases, which emerge as the number one killer of human beings worldwide. The statistics reveal that various heart disease & strokes claim 17.3 million lives every year around the world. And by 2020, one third of all human deaths on the planet will be attributed to the cardiovascular diseases.
Shockingly India has been emerging as the world capital of heart patients. The populous country today takes the burden of over 30 million patients with heart related ailments. Moreover it witnesses the deaths of around 3 million people because of cardiovascular diseases every year.
However, 80% of those premature deaths can be avoided with necessary precautions. Geneva based World Heart Federation, which promotes the heart day celebrations worldwide, preaches for improving global heart health by encouraging people for lifestyle changes with acquiring knowledge about being good to the heart.
“We are supporting the mission of World Health Organization to reduce the non-communicable disease mortality rate by 2025 with the reduction of premature deaths because of cardiovascular diseases. The heart day celebration is one of our initiatives,” said Dr Jayanta Bardoloi, the chief of Dispur Hospitals.
He also added that few dangerous risk factors leading to the heart ailments and strokes include high blood pressure, high level of bad cholesterol, increased glucose level, increased weight and obesity, which are normally triggered by the smoking habit, unhealthy diet and physical inactivity.
The Dispur Hospitals private limited also plans to take out a walkathon on Thursday morning in the city streets for enhancing awareness about various heart ailments. The walk will start from the hospital premises at 6 am, informed Ujjal Saikia of Dispur Hospitals adding that senior Assamese journalist Nava Thakuria will flag off the march.
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Water Park and Summer Fashion Show
At Hangang River
People enjoy at Water Park and Summer Fashion Show in Seoul City...See more photos
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GNRC doctors conducted evening OPD at press club
GNRC doctors
Guwahati: Baring few, most of the city based scribes have shown satisfactory heart conditions when they attended the ‘Evening with a Doctor’ program at Guwahati Press Club (GPC) on 10 September 2016. Dr Rajib Das (Cardiology) and Dr Bikash Rai Das (Heart Surgeon) from GNRC Group of hospitals conducted the evening OPD offering free medical check-up & consultations to the participants.
They were assisted by health workers namely Sister Iva, Guna Kataky and Mamoni Goswami from the prestigious healthcare institute of northeast India. Mrinal Ali Hazarika, public relation officer of GNRC Hospitals was also present in the evening outpatient department program, where many close relatives of the scribes also participated.
The first program of the weekly evening clinic series at GPC premises was launched on 20 August, where Dr Kashyap Kr Das (Medicine, Dispur Hospitals) provided necessary consultations on healthcare issues to the member-journalists. The participants, including some senior journalists, took the opportunity to get their blood pressure & sugar checked by the health workers.
Mentionable is that Assam’s well known Dispur Hospitals Pvt Ltd under the leadership of Dr Jayanta Bardoloi took the initiative to raise a doctor’s chamber on the GPC campus, which was inaugurated by young citizens namely Dhiman, Kristi, Shantanava, Arya, Shambhavi, Nistha and Arunava on the occasion of India’s 70th Independence Day.
The second program was graced by two physicians from Down Town Hospital namely Dr Swapnaav Barthakur (Medicine) & Dr Ruma Dutta (O& G) and the third one was attended by Dr Nitin Gupta (Urology), Dr Juri Talukdar (General Practitioner) and Dr Debanga Borah (Cardiology) from Wintrobe Hospital.
The forthcoming GPC healthcare programs will be attended by the physicians from Narayana Super Specialty Hospital, Apollo Chennai Hospital, Nemcare Hospital, Swagat Hospital etc. Though the initiative was formulated primarily for the benefit of GPC members, said GPC Secretary Nava Thakuria, anyone related to the journalism and based in other parts of the region is also encouraged to take advantage of the evening OPDs.
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Camellia Panjabi: The Queen of Indian Food
Special ContributionBy Ajay Ghosh
Camellia Panjabi(R)
A dream can change one’s life. But with Camellia Panjabi, her dream was to prove to the world that Indian cuisine is as sophisticated and as advanced as French, Japanese, Thai or any other. “We should be proud,” she says, “to be Indian and to be inheritors of such a rich legacy.”
Camellia Panjabi is one of India’s leading culinary personalities, known for her innovative contribution to popularizing Indian regional cuisines within India and London, through trendsetting Indian restaurants. She is also known for having brought the street foods of India from the pavements into plush restaurants both in India and abroad. It was her passion for learning and popularizing the authentic Indian food that made her dedicate her entire life, sharing of the broad spectrum of Indian cuisine to the rest of the world. In researching the project Camellia was aware of- and succeeded against- certain practical challenges: India was a country with around 1.2 billion people, 14 different languages, 29 States, 7 Union Territories, not to mention various cultures – thereby demonstrating contrasts at least as stark as those found between countries across a varied continent like Europe.
Little surprise then, to find that a national identity of cuisine was not something originally found in India. Camellia found that recipes were the closely guarded secrets of families across the country. To expand her knowledge of regional Indian cuisine, she embarked upon a project that sought to seek information from those families, private chefs and home cooks, a corollary of which was her publication ‘The 50 Great Curries of India’, which has sold 1.5 million copies, and is probably the best selling cookbook on Indian cuisine outside of India.
In the 1960s when Camellia came down from Cambridge, UK and applied for and was able to join the Tata Administrative Service, which was, in those days was an entirely male bastion. After a stint with Tata Oil Mills, Camellia ended up at Indian Hotels, then no more than a company that managed Bombay’s Taj, which was in a state of decline. Camellia has been credited with innovative ideas that changed the Taj and its success story has come to be admired. From just one Hotel, the Taj group in a span of few years, opened several top notch hotels in major cities across India. The marketing campaigns she launched positioned them as the country’s leading luxury chain.
Until Camellia came along, Indian hotels were not known for their food. It was the Taj that changed all that. Shamiana, the coffee shop at the Bombay hotel, was the first to put things like pao bhaji on the menu and the first 5 star posh hotel in India to offer idlis and dosas on the breakfast menu. When Machan opened in Delhi in 1978, the prices were kept low so that younger people could sample the hotel’s unusual fare – one reason why the old Machan still evokes so much affection in people of my generation.
Camellia was also instrumental in introducing the newly discovered Sichuan Chinese cuisine into India, with The Golden Dragon and The House of Ming which opened in Delhi in 1978. Both changed the way in which Indians looked at Chinese food, and swept India leading to the creation of Chindian food or Sichuan / Ludhianvi cuisine, as India’s leading food critic calls it. Her love of Far Eastern food which led to the opening of Paradise Island restaurant in the Eighties at Taj West End hotel and introduced Indians to the cuisines of Thailand.
Another contribution that Camellia has been credited with is the Taj’s success in persuading north Indians that there was more to south Indian food than idlis and sambar. It was Camellia who pushed the Taj to explore the cooking of India’s west coast: Goa, Mangalore and Kerala and set up the Karavalli restaurant at Taj Gateway Hotel in Bangalore. It was her love for the peppery hotness of Chettinad food that popularized the cuisine first within Chennai and then it spread all over India and the world. Taj chefs were dispatched to private homes in Karai Kudi district of Tamil Nadu to learn how to cook the best dishes and to learn ancient family recipes. Then she launched ‘the Raintree’, the first Chettinad restaurant in India at the Taj Connemara hotel in Chennai. But till the Taj took the plunge in the 1980s, the food of the south remained restricted to the south.
In 1983 Camellia opened the Bombay Brasserie restaurant in London, which introduced regional Indian cooking to the UK for the first time and changed the way Indian cuisine was perceived in London. Panjabi's real passion though is a variation on Indian street food. "Street sellers depend on word of mouth. So they have to make it taste the best," she says. "My mother who was a doctor, did everything in her power to stop us eating it with reasons of hygiene, but with children there is always a way. That love of the taste of street food stays with us through to adulthood."
After leaving The Taj, in 2001 Camellia Panjabi joined her family’s restaurant company Masala World in London, which owns Chutney Mary in Chelsea, Veeraswamy, the UK's oldest Indian restaurant and Masala Zone throughout London. Amaya, their latest venture, winning several awards. In 1989, Namita Panjabi and Ranjit Mathrani formed Chelsea Plaza Restaurants which was later renamed Masala World. The company was formed to create top end restaurant Chutney Mary as an outlet for fine Indian food. The restaurant immediately won accolades and audiences in London. They then bought the ailing Veeraswamy, and turned it around to have a new life as London’s best Indian restaurant, given the award by London’s Time Out magazine.
Camellia Panjabi joined the group as a director in 2001 and together the team of 3 set about the project of Amaya restaurant, which after opening in October 2004 gained a nomination by 7 top food writers of UK as ‘London’s Best Restaurant’ across all cuisines. This was the first city in the world outside India where an Indian restaurant was judged the Best Restaurant. Amaya was also awarded a Michelin star in 2006.
In 2001 they created a new Masala Zone concept and launched it in the colorful Soho district, providing a fresh new approach with Indian street food and the Thali way of eating, including non-vegetarian thalis. The décor of the restaurants is full of spirit using tribal and popular folk art. Now there is a collection of seven restaurants across London. In 2012, the company as a whole was renamed MW Eat. Most recently, MW Eat moved the iconic restaurant Chutney Mary to beautiful upscale premises on St James’ Street, London and opening Masala Grill on its former site.
Veeraswamy, UK's oldest Indian restaurant, has been the rendezvous of rich, famous, fashionable lovers of Indian food since its inception in 1926. It celebrates 90 years in 2016 and is credited with being the oldest Indian restaurant in the world. The luxurious, chic, and exotic décor evokes Maharaja's palaces of the 1920s. A menu of top flight classical dishes from throughout India is combined with more contemporary creations. National Geographic, the highly respected travel magazine, has ranked it as one of the 10 Best Destination Restaurants in the World. No other UK restaurant is in the top 10. Voted “Indian Restaurant of the Year” by them. Veeraswamy is one of the leading fine dining restaurants serving Indian food in the world today.
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The Colors Of India: Fashion Show By Rohini Bedi’s Exclusive 2016 Collection At AAPI’s 34th Convention in New York
Fashion by Rohini Bedi
AAPI Convention has come to be recognized for its ways of catering to the varied needs of the delegates from across the nation. A ways of networking and strengthening bond, AAPI convention offers events, programs and services, always striving to provide the best in the world to the participants.
While AAPI convention is packed with Seminars, CMEs, CEO Forum, gala, cultural events, scintillating Bollywood and Hollywood shows, one thing has come to be popular among the delegates is the live Fashion Shows. Participants at the 34th annual convention in New York City this year will not be disappointed.
This year's Fashion Show is being led by Rohini Bedi. The much sought after South Asian designer Rohini Bedi from Los Angeles brings you her exclusive collection 2016 for APPI in her presentation for AAPI delgates, “The Colors Of India,” announced Dr. Seema Jain, President of AAPI. “Rohini’s collection infuses the vibrant colors of the East and the jaw dropping designs that rock the runways in the West,” she added.
According to Dr. Hetal Gor, an organizer of the event at the Convention, “The Fashion Show will consist of beautiful dancers, dancing to Caribean, Brazil, Hawaian dances provided by Bergen pac and music. These will be followed by models walking in Resort Wear.” In addition, there will be Fusion/Jazz/ Tap dancing to get everyone excited for the day wear/office wear which stunning models will show case. A sensational Kathak Dance with Pakiza set and Taj Mahal on the screen will be followed by Party and Wedding Wear. The grand finale will have breathtaking performances by Sonali Bhendre.
"The exclusive Indian fashion designer Rohini Bedi has been custom designing and selling her label throughout various boutiques in India and worldwide," said Dr. Rita Ahuja, Chairwoman of the Convention. "She has recently opened her flagship studio "Fashion by Rohini" next to Bhindi Jewelers in Cerritos bringing her exclusive showcase to the South Asian bride right here in So Cal. Rohini has the innate talent to bring any brides dream to life, so for those brides to be that want an exclusive one of a kind piece tailored to their vision...let Rohini bring that special touch to the most memorable day of your life."
AAPI’s 34th annual convention will be held at the Marriott Marquis, Time Square in New York from June 30-July 4, 2016. Expected to have a record attendance of more than 2,000 delegates including Physicians, Academicians, Researchers and Medical students, “the annual convention offers extensive academic presentations, recognition of achievements and achievers, and professional networking at the alumni and evening social events,” she added. For more details, please visit: www.fashionbyrohini.com, for and sponsorship opportunities at AAPI convention, please visit: www.aapiconvention.org and www.aapiusa.org
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Sadhguru To Address Delegates On Need To Build A Culture Of Health In Society During AAPI’s 34th Annual AAPI Convention in New York
Sadhguru
(New York, NY: May 19, 2016): Understanding the inherent humanity that unites all nations, religions and cultures, Sadhguru is recognized for his pioneering efforts to nurture global harmony, Dr. Seema Jain, President of American association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), said today, while announcing the 1.5 hours of CME to be led by Sadhguru during AAPI’s 34th Convention in New York. AAPI’s 34th annual convention will be held at the Marriott Marquis, Time Square in New York from June 30-July 4, 2016. Expected to have a record attendance of more than 2,000 delegates including Physicians, Academicians, Researchers and Medical students, “the annual convention offers extensive academic presentations, recognition of achievements and achievers, and professional networking at the alumni and evening social events,” she added.
Having Sadhguru at the Convention with his unique ability to make the ancient yogic sciences relevant to contemporary minds, and acts as a bridge to the deeper dimensions of life, will make the convention and the delegates from across the nation richer, in so many ways, said, Dr. Rita Ahuaja, Chairwoman of the Convention. “His approach does not ascribe to any belief system, but offers methods for self-transformation that are both proven and powerful,” Dr. Ahuja added. Named one of India's 50 most influential people, Sadhguru is a realized Yogi and mystic who works tirelessly towards the physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing of all. Sadhguru’s work has deeply touched the lives of millions worldwide through his transformational programs.
"We need to create a culture of Health in society, instead of investing in just healthcare,” Sadhguru says. “What we call feeling healthy, is not just the absence of disease, but having a sense of wholeness within us. If we feel like a complete being in our body, mind and spirit, that is when we are truly healthy." An author, poet and internationally renowned speaker, Sadhguru’s wit and piercing logic provoke and broaden our thoughts and perception of life. Sadhguru has been an influential voice at major global forums including the United Nations, World Economic Forum, the UK House of Lords, TED among many others.
Just as he has stated, “Your success in this world essentially depends on how well you can harness the prowess of this body and this mind,” Sadhguru believes in dedicating his life for the service of humanity. He established Isha Foundation, a non-profit organization supported by over three million volunteers worldwide. From powerful yoga programs to large-scale humanitarian projects for rural upliftment, education for the underprivileged, environmental restoration, as well as holistic and healthy living, the foundation’s activities are designed to create an inclusive culture and establish global harmony. His fundamental vision is to offer the science of inner wellbeing to every human being – a science vitally helping realize the ultimate potential within. From this vision stem a multitude of projects, programs, and methods, all towards the same aim: to raise every human being to the peak of their potential, be exuberant, all-inclusive, in harmony within themselves and the world.
Perhaps Sadhguru’s mission is most succinctly summarized in his own paradoxical words: “I have no mission of my own. It is just that when you see a certain need around you, you do what you can do – that’s all. But I have a dream, that someday, walking on a street anywhere in the world, I would be able to meet lots of enlightened or realized beings. That would be the greatest blessing to happen to the world.” The annual convention this year is being organized by AAPI’s New Jersey Chapter. In addition to offering over 12 hours of cutting edge CMEs to the physicians, the event will have 12 hours of product theaters/promotional opportunities, six plenary sessions, a first ever multi-segment CEOs Forum, and a first ever women’s leadership forum. The convention will be addressed by senior world leaders, including US Senators, Presidential candidates, Nobel Lauretes, Governors, Congressmen, and celebrities from the Hollywood and Bollywood world.
Representing the interests of the over 100,000 physicians of Indian origin, leaders of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the largest ethnic organization of physicians, for 34 years, AAPI Convention has provided a venue for medical education programs and symposia with world renowned physicians on the cutting edge of medicine. “Physicians and healthcare professionals from across the country and internationally will convene and participate in the scholarly exchange of medical advances, to develop health policy agendas, and to encourage legislative priorities in the coming year. We look forward to seeing you in New York!” said Dr. Seema Jain. For more details, and sponsorship opportunities, please visit: www.aapiconvention.org and www.aapiusa.org
(New York, NY: May 19, 2016): Understanding the inherent humanity that unites all nations, religions and cultures, Sadhguru is recognized for his pioneering efforts to nurture global harmony, Dr. Seema Jain, President of American association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), said today, while announcing the 1.5 hours of CME to be led by Sadhguru during AAPI’s 34th Convention in New York. AAPI’s 34th annual convention will be held at the Marriott Marquis, Time Square in New York from June 30-July 4, 2016. Expected to have a record attendance of more than 2,000 delegates including Physicians, Academicians, Researchers and Medical students, “the annual convention offers extensive academic presentations, recognition of achievements and achievers, and professional networking at the alumni and evening social events,” she added.
Having Sadhguru at the Convention with his unique ability to make the ancient yogic sciences relevant to contemporary minds, and acts as a bridge to the deeper dimensions of life, will make the convention and the delegates from across the nation richer, in so many ways, said, Dr. Rita Ahuaja, Chairwoman of the Convention. “His approach does not ascribe to any belief system, but offers methods for self-transformation that are both proven and powerful,” Dr. Ahuja added. Named one of India's 50 most influential people, Sadhguru is a realized Yogi and mystic who works tirelessly towards the physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing of all. Sadhguru’s work has deeply touched the lives of millions worldwide through his transformational programs.
"We need to create a culture of Health in society, instead of investing in just healthcare,” Sadhguru says. “What we call feeling healthy, is not just the absence of disease, but having a sense of wholeness within us. If we feel like a complete being in our body, mind and spirit, that is when we are truly healthy." An author, poet and internationally renowned speaker, Sadhguru’s wit and piercing logic provoke and broaden our thoughts and perception of life. Sadhguru has been an influential voice at major global forums including the United Nations, World Economic Forum, the UK House of Lords, TED among many others.
Just as he has stated, “Your success in this world essentially depends on how well you can harness the prowess of this body and this mind,” Sadhguru believes in dedicating his life for the service of humanity. He established Isha Foundation, a non-profit organization supported by over three million volunteers worldwide. From powerful yoga programs to large-scale humanitarian projects for rural upliftment, education for the underprivileged, environmental restoration, as well as holistic and healthy living, the foundation’s activities are designed to create an inclusive culture and establish global harmony. His fundamental vision is to offer the science of inner wellbeing to every human being – a science vitally helping realize the ultimate potential within. From this vision stem a multitude of projects, programs, and methods, all towards the same aim: to raise every human being to the peak of their potential, be exuberant, all-inclusive, in harmony within themselves and the world.
Perhaps Sadhguru’s mission is most succinctly summarized in his own paradoxical words: “I have no mission of my own. It is just that when you see a certain need around you, you do what you can do – that’s all. But I have a dream, that someday, walking on a street anywhere in the world, I would be able to meet lots of enlightened or realized beings. That would be the greatest blessing to happen to the world.” The annual convention this year is being organized by AAPI’s New Jersey Chapter. In addition to offering over 12 hours of cutting edge CMEs to the physicians, the event will have 12 hours of product theaters/promotional opportunities, six plenary sessions, a first ever multi-segment CEOs Forum, and a first ever women’s leadership forum. The convention will be addressed by senior world leaders, including US Senators, Presidential candidates, Nobel Lauretes, Governors, Congressmen, and celebrities from the Hollywood and Bollywood world.
Representing the interests of the over 100,000 physicians of Indian origin, leaders of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), the largest ethnic organization of physicians, for 34 years, AAPI Convention has provided a venue for medical education programs and symposia with world renowned physicians on the cutting edge of medicine. “Physicians and healthcare professionals from across the country and internationally will convene and participate in the scholarly exchange of medical advances, to develop health policy agendas, and to encourage legislative priorities in the coming year. We look forward to seeing you in New York!” said Dr. Seema Jain. For more details, and sponsorship opportunities, please visit: www.aapiconvention.org and www.aapiusa.org
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Research Symposium & Poster Contest To Be Held At AAPI’s Annual Convention
Winner of the Research and Poster Contest during AAPI's Global Healthcare Summit held in New Delhi
(New York, NY: May 4th, 2016) The high quality of medical care humanity enjoys today is the result of centuries of research by physicians, scientists, and the medical professionals investigating the causes and potential treatments for diseases. Insights provided by medical research today promise to lessen the impact of today’s greatest health problems, including diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. When you support and encourage medical research, you are helping medical researchers build the future cures for various diseases, making significant headway in advancing medical knowledge and improving patient care, and thus contributing to humanity to live healthier and longer lives.
Indian American Physicians are way ahead in the medical field, and contribute immensely towards medical research. Encouraging young medical researchers of Indian Origin, “following in the traditions of American Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), a Research Symposium and Contest with Poster Presentation is being held during the 34th annual convention being organized by the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin in New York City on Saturday July 2nd at the Hotel Marriott Marquis, Times Square. Quoting Bill Gates who had said, “I believe in innovation and that the way you get innovation is you fund research and you learn the basic facts,” Dr. Seema Jain, President of AAPI, said, “The contest provides a forum for medical students and researchers in the area of health to showcase their research, exchange ideas, and improve their communication skills while competing for awards and recognition at the annual convention of 2016.” Students, residents, faculty and medical practitioners have been invited to submit their research abstracts and posters for presentation at the 2016 annual convention. The competition is open to both members and non-members of AAPI.
The Research Competition gives students the opportunity to share their research ideas and results during the GHS in a special forum that provides visibility for their work. It also gives students the opportunity to meet with and interact with the attendees at the Convention to share ideas, gain new insights, and understand possible practical applications, while giving students an opportunity to sharpen their communication skills. Above all, it serves to recognize and reward outstanding student research. "The AAPI Research Symposium is an exciting venue to learn about and present new and exciting research as well as case reports and discussions,” says Dr. Kunj Patel, an organizer of the contest. “Presenting before the Indian physician community adds a personal feel to the event that provides an additional sense of pride. I have presented at many renown national meetings at this point in my career, but my parents were particularly proud of my accomplishments with AAPI."
The contest is open to all Medical Residents of Indian Origin. The conference promises to feature an exciting educational program with national leaders in medicine. The highly competitive and prestigious completion will give each participant to showcase one’s research by submitting an abstract in one of the following categories: Basic Science; Clinical Medicine; and Clinical Vignette. The annual convention this year is being organized by AAPI’s New Jersey Chapter. “Many of the physicians who will attend this convention have excelled in different specialties and subspecialties and occupy high positions as faculty members of medical schools, heads of departments, and executives of hospital staff. The AAPI Convention offers an opportunity to meet directly with these physicians who are leaders in their fields and play an integral part in the decision-making process regarding new products and services,” Dr. Jain said.
The deadline for the online submission of one’s entry is 11:59 PM Eastern time on June 1, 2016. Abstracts will be accepted on a rolling basis, with all notices occurring before June 10th, 2016. All presenters must be official registrants for the conference. Expected to be a great day of presentations and discussions, the winners will be awarded with awards. Poster Presentation & Judging will be held on Saturday, July 2, 2016 and the applicants whose works are picked for oral and poster presentations will have free entrance to the research competition. AAPI, an umbrella organization, representing 130 local chapters, specialty societies and alumni organizations, is the largest ethnic medical organization in the United States. For over 30 years, Indian physicians have made significant contributions to health care in this country, not only practicing in inner cities, rural areas and peripheral communities but also at the top medical schools and other academic centers. Almost 10%-12% of medical students entering US schools are of Indian origin. For more information on the contest, please contact Dr. Kunj Patel (kunj.patel@emory.edu) or Dr. Amar Shah (secretary@aapimsrf.org). For more details on AAPI and the convention, please visit: www.aapiconvention.org and www.aapiusa.org
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American University of Antigua College of Medicine Holds First Ever Responder Trainings in India
The First Responders Trainings both in Udaipur and Jaipur, being attended by Fire Fighters, Policemen, and EMT in Advance Life Support, CPR, and First Aid
(New York, NY: April 26, 2016) Indian roads claim more than 16 lives every hour in accidents on an average. Over 141,000 people died in crashes in 2014, 3% more than the number of fatalities in 2013. According to World Health Organization (WHO), India has now overtaken China and has the worst road traffic accident rate worldwide.
Rajasthan, a northwestern state in India, is among the top five states in India, that together account for nearly 40% of the fatalities in India. Training the first responders, who are often the Police Force, Fire Fighters and Emergency Medical Team (EMT) and the Doctors is very important to save the lives of those who meet with accidents. With the objective of training the first respondents in accidents, American University of Antigua (AUA) College of Medicine, a division of Manipal Global Education Services, organized a week-long training to at Rajasthan University of Health Sciences (RUHS) in Jaipur and Rabindra Nath Tagore (RNT) College of Medical Sciences in Udaipur Rajasthan, India.
The trainings held from April 18th to 22nd, both in Udaipur and Jaipur, trained first responders, including Fire Fighters, Policemen, and EMT in Advance Life Support, CPR, and First Aid. Instruction on these techniques provided by leaders from AUA’s Emergency Medicine Training Centre, including Vernon Solomon, Director; Marlon Destin, Manager; and Dr. Courtney Lewis, Assistant Director, Instructor for Clinical Medicine, and Campus Physician. The trainings were given to four groups consisting of 25 Doctors and 50 Policemen. The policeman were chosen as they are the first responders at any road side accident. Each participant received a Certificate upon completion of the training.
This first ever event of this nature was organized with the active support by the Honorable Home Minister of Rajasthan, Gulab Chand Kataria and his Special Advisor, Mahendra Parakh; Principal of Rabindra Nath Tagore (RNT) Medical College, Udaipur, Dr. D.P. Singh; and Dr. Raja Panwar, Vice Chancellor of RUHS College of Medical Sciences; and Ramesh Joshi, Deputy Director, who was highly appreciative of this new initiative. “The trained first responders held this week is going to save millions of life through the effective intervention of those who participated and benefitted from these trainings,” he said. Dr. Rajesh Sharma, Principal and Controller of RUHS College of Medical Sciences, lauded AUA for this noble initiative and the excellent reputation associated with the University’s Medical Education. “This innovative training course will ensure that the first responders meet the international standard of care,” said Dr. Rajesh Sharma. “We hope this will be the start of many such coordinated training efforts between RUHS and AUA.”
“AUA is very happy to be part of this training initiative by the Home Minister to bring knowledge and first responder training to the personnel” said Premkumar, Advisor to the President for Special Projects, Advisor to the President for American University of Antigua, College of Medicine. Dr. Ajay Lodha, President-Elect of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, who had travelled to his home state Rajasthan from New York, to be part of this noble initiative and to express his support for the program, said, “The trainings by the AUA and with the active support of the Government of Rajasthan needs to be done in all parts of the state and across the nation, which will save millions of innocent lives that we lose to road accidents every day across the nation.”
AUA College of Medicine is an innovative medical school dedicated to providing a learner-centric education of the highest quality, granting opportunities to underrepresented minorities, fostering a diverse academic community, and ensuring that its graduates develop the skills and attitudes of lifelong learning, compassion, and professionalism. AUA College of Medicine is approved by the New York State Education Department and the Florida Department of Education, recognized by the Medical Board of California, and accredited by the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions. Ajay Ghosh
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10 Credit Hours of CME Offered to Participants During 34th Annual AAPI convention in New York
Special ContributionBy Ajay Ghosh
AAPI delegates during the Global Healthcare Summit in New Delhi
(New York, NY: April 6, 2016) The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) that represents more than 100,000 Indian American Physicians, reflects the range of physician specialties seen in the physician community at large with 61% in Primary Care, 33% in Medical sub-specialties and 6% in surgical sub-specialties. Medical specialty representation includes pediatrics, psychiatry, anesthesiology/pain management, cardiology, family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, oncology, gastroenterology pathology, endocrinology, nephrology, rheumatology along with many other fields.
The 34th Annual AAPI Convention & Scientific Assembly will be held at Marriott Marquis in New York, NY from June 30 to July 4, 2016. The multidisciplinary CME conference during the convention allows specialists and primary care physicians to interact in an academic forum. World-renowned speakers will discuss gaps between current and best practice of wide-ranging topics of CME sessions.
It’s a well known fact that physicians of Indian origin excel in their respective areas of work and continue to play key roles in patient care, administration, academics and medical research. In order to cater to its diversity of medical specialties, AAPI continues to use a multi-disciplinary conference format. “The essence of AAPI is educational,” Dr. Seema Jain, president of AAPI, while describing the purpose of CME said. According to Dr. Seema Jain, “That translates into numerous Continuing Medical Education and non-CME seminars by experts in their fields. CME will provide comprehensive and current reviews and guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of various disease states to reduce morbidity and mortality and achieve cost effective quality care outcomes. At the end of the activity, it is expected that attendees will gain an understanding of the causation, diagnosis and the best clinical practices for the management of the diverse group of diseases discussed during this program.”
On Friday, July 1st, Dr. Donald Lloyd Jones, Writer of AHA and ACC Guidelines & Chairman of PSM at North Western University, Chicago IL will present CME on New Cholesterol Guidelines and Implication. Dr. Jeffrry Mackanick, Director of Clinical Diabetes MSSM will discuss with the delegates on Guidelines in management of Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes. Dr. Clive Rosendoeff will present on Recent trends in Management of Hypertension. Management of Prostate related disease and Cancer of Prostate will be the topic discussed by Dr. Ashutosh Tiwari, Chair Of Urology at Mt. Sinai Medical Center, while Modern Trends in Management of Multiple Myeloma will be presented by Dr. Sunder Jaggannath, Director Of Multiple Myeloma Center, NY. New Imaging Guidelines for smokers and Contemporary Management will be addressed in his presentation by Dr. Manjit Bains at Sloan Kattering Memorial Hospital, NYC. Dr. Sanjeev Gupta will address the delegates on New Development Inflammatory Liver Disease.
On Saturday, Dr. Valentine Fuster, Editor in Chief of JACC, will deliver his address on ways to “Promoting Cardio Vascular Health Globally From Heart to Head.” Dr. Robert Banow, Editor in Chief of JAMA Cardiology, will discuss with participants about the “Timing Of Surgical intervention for Mitral/Aortic Valve regurgitation.” Dr. Javed Butler, Chief of Cardiology at State of New York University, Stony Brook, will focus his lecture on Advances in Heart Failure, while Dr. Devendra Mehta, Director of EP Services at St. Luke Hospital, NYC will present on Advances in Treatment of Arrhythmias. The lecture by Dr. John Puskus, Chairman of Cardio Thoracic Surgery at Beth Israel Medical Center, NY will be on Complete Arterial Vascularization, and, Dr. Samin Sharma, Chair Of Cardiology at Mt Sinai Medical Center, NYC will address the audience on Advances in Interventional Cardiology.
On Sunday, July 3, 2016, the focus will be mental health issues. Depression and Mood Disorder of Moods in Women will be topic addressed by Dr. A. Patkar and Association, while Dr. Samuel Gandy will address on Mild Cognitive Dysfunction to Alzheimer Disease is Prevention or Option. Dr. Sharmila Makhija, Chair of OB/GYN at Albert Einstein Medical Center’s theme will be on Recent Advances in Management of Cancer of Ovary, Dr. James Abraham from the Cleveland Clinic will address on New Advances in Management of Cancer of Breast, and the final presentation will be on Women Health and Advances.
The 34th annual AAPI Convention in New York from June 30th through July 1st, 2016, while providing physicians of Indian origin an opportunity to come together in an atmosphere of collegiality, it will enable them to retrace and appreciate their common roots, culture and the bond that unites them as members of this large professional community. Giving them a platform to celebrate their accomplishments, the annual convention to be attended by nearly 2,000 physicians of Indian origin, it will also provide a forum to renew their professional commitment through continuing medical educations activities.
The annual convention this year is being organized by AAPI’s New Jersey Chapter, headed by Dr. Rita Ahuja, who said, “The 2016 AAPI Annual Convention & Scientific Assembly offers an exciting venue to interact with leading physicians, health professionals, academicians, and scientists of Indian origin. Physicians and healthcare professionals from across the country will convene and participate in the scholarly exchange of medical advances, to develop health policy agendas, and to encourage legislative priorities in the coming year.” “Many of the physicians who will attend this convention have excelled in different specialties and subspecialties and occupy high positions as faculty members of medical schools, heads of departments, and executives of hospital staff. The AAPI Convention offers an opportunity to meet directly with these physicians who are leaders in their fields and play an integral part in the decision-making process regarding new products and services,” Dr. Seema Jain added.
AAPI is an umbrella organization which has nearly 160 local chapters, specialty societies and alumni organizations. For over 30 years, Indian physicians have made significant contributions to health care in this country, not only practicing in inner cities, rural areas and peripheral communities but also at the top medical schools and other academic centers. Almost 10%-12% of medical students entering US schools are of Indian origin. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, AAPI represents the interests of over nearly 100,000 physicians, medical students and residents of Indian heritage in the United States. It is the largest ethnic medical organization in the nation. For more details and registration for the convention, please visit: www.aapiconvention.org and www.aapiusa.org
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Seoul International Sports & Leisure Industry Show 2016
At the exibition
Seoul International Sports & Leisure Indusrty Show 2016(SPOEX 2016) held in COEX, Seoul from February 25 ~ 28, 2016. The exibition organizers are Korea Sports Promotion Foundation(KSPO) and Korea International Trade Association(KITA).
According to the organizers, top trade show leading the latest trends in Korea's sports and leisure industry. SPOEX is an outstanding show attracting more than 40,000 visitors from the domestic and overseas sports and leisure industry every year.
SPOEX includes the Outdoor Show, Camping Show, Bike Show and KUSPO Show. SPOEX was approved by UFI in 2005 and has been named the "Promising International Show" by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The Items exibition are Health/Fitness, Sporting Goods/Facilities, Camping/Camping Car, Outdoor, Bike/Extream Leisure, Water Sports(KUSPO)
The exibition was supervised by K. Fairs Ltd. And sponsor by Ministry of Culture,Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Trade,Industry and Energy.
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South Asian Games kicks off Friday in northeast India
Special ContributionBy NJ Thakuria
The 12th South Asian Games 2016
Guwahati: As northeast India is preparing for the 12th South Asian Games 2016, to be held in Guwahati and Shillong on 5-16 February 2016, both the capital cities have turned into fortress under security nets. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the spectacular sporting event on Friday in presence of nearly 4500 athletes, officials and sport lovers from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan with the host country India.
The mascot of the event is designed with the campaign for conservation of world’s precious one-horned rhinoceros, which has sizable population in various forest reserves of the region and the theme song ‘Ai Prithibi Ek Kringagon….’ has been picked up from the immortal creations of legendary Assamese music maestro Dr Bhupen Hazarika. Meanwhile, the security agencies have already expanded its nets to all sensitive locations to make the first biggest ever international multi-sporting event held in the region hassle free. Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has ensured a ‘fool-proof security system’ for the mega event ensuring smooth conduct of the Games.
“The government has arranged fool-proof security for sportspersons as well as spectators for the smooth conduct of the games,” said Gogoi after attending a review meeting with the representatives from the army, para-military forces, police, intelligence agencies and sports administrators to discuss the last minute preparations of the event. The Congress veteran as well as Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma have appealed to the people of the alienated region to welcome and co-operate with the sportspersons and officials who are coming from eight south Asian countries for the event spreading camaraderie & good will.
Guwahati city police commissioner Mukesh Agarwala, while talking to the media persons, elaborated that over 90 hotels, guest houses and resorts would be used for the Games, where the security personnel would be deployed for 24 hours a day during the occasion. He also added that additional 500 officials would be deployed in the city to control the traffics.
Meanwhile, the banned United Liberation Front of Assam (Independent), which is waging a war against Indian Union government for a sovereign Assam, has also come out with a statement welcoming the event saying that the participants from the south Asian nations would ‘find our region have similarities with their own lands’ that should make them feel at home.
“The sporting spirit quality in human interactions is recognized as an extremely valuable asset which can evaporate petty differences, break barriers, remove misunderstanding, strengthens bonding of old friendship and create new ones,” said the statement issued by Ulfa (I) chairman Abhijit Asom.
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Dozen Women Achievers Discuss Women’s Leadership At AAPI’s Global Healthcare Summit
Women's forum speakers
New Delhi, India: January 2, 2016: Women play multiple roles in the society. They are mothers, daughters, sisters, and in modern times, they are active bread winners in every family. They lead and inspire others by setting examples for others to follow. There are many areas where women have proven to be effective leaders, but many more need to take on leadership roles in many more areas. “We have come a long way. But there is much more to achieve,” a dozen women achievers, who were featured at the prestigious “Women’s Forum,” told an enthusiastic audience during AAPI’s Global Healthcare Summit at the Maurya ITC in New Delhi on January 2nd, 2016.
Dr. Seema Jain, who rose through the ranks of AAPI after being a member of AAPI and in almost every body of AAPI in the past 15 years, told the audience that she is proud to be the leader of AAPI, which is predominantly a men’s group. In her role as the President and CEO, Dr. Seema jain is assisted by all men. She thanked her committed team consisting of Dr. Ajay Lodha, President-Elect, Dr. Gautam Samadder, Vice President, Dr. Naresh Parikh, Secretary, and Dr. Suresh Reddy, Treasurer, Dr. Aravind Pillai, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Rupak D. Parikh, President of the YPS, and Dr. Dhaval Bhanusali, President of MSRF for the 2015-2016.
At AAPI’s Global Healthcare Summit
The Panel on Women’s Leadership was chaired by Dr. Seema Jain, President, AAPI, while Sonal Kalra, national Editor of Hindustan Times, Entertainment, Lifestyle & Art, moderated the high-powered women’s session. Dr. Jayehsree Mehta, President, MCI, gave an overview of her own life journey and told the delegates, “Take life as they come.” Sangita Reddy, Joint MD, Apollo Group, shared with the audience how her dad used to be told, “This poor man with four daughters” had turned into “This lucky man with four daughters,” after the four siblings achieved greater things in life and have made their dad proud.
Rashmi Singh, quoted what others had told of her achievements, “You do not become popular by the positon you hold, but the position becomes popular because of you and what you do.” Vimla Mehra, who had spearheaded prison reforms in India, shared of the challenges and the satisfaction she had experienced while being the 2nd woman police officer incharge of the Prison system in the country. Pinky Anand, a woman’s rights advocate, told the audience, “You got to play your role whatever it may take.” She told the women among the audience that they need to be “more creative in what you do rather than try to be bossing around.’
Dr. Deepali Bhardwaj and Dr. Loveleen Johri, US Embassy India, were among those who had shared with the audience their life’s experiences and how their roles have shaped their own lives and that of many others. “The job of leadership is to make meaning for others and to inspire them,” Dr. Deepali Bhardwaj said, “Just by being there you could be an inspiration to others.” The youngest on the panel, the 25-yr old Kriti Sanon, an actress and fashion model who shot to fame with her role in Dilwale, told her own life story of how she allowed her heart’s desire lead the way to success. “I am so honored to be among these inspiring women,” she said with modesty. “I didn’t give up when I was scared.”
The 10th annual Global Healthcare Summit (GHS) 2016, organized by the Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) at the prestigious ITC Maurya Hotel in New Delhi, India from January 1st to 3rd, 2016 offers a unique forum for them to come together, sharing their knowledge and expertise in their respective medical fields with their fellow physicians from around the world, and to learn from one another. For more information on Global Health Summit 2014, please visit www.aapighsindia.org Ajay Ghosh, Phone # (203) 583-6750
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Dec 2014-Dec 2015
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Jul-Nov 2014
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2010-2013, Jan-Jun 2014
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