Dear Academicians and Friends:
It gives me great pleasure and joy to be here in Jaipur
- the pink city of India, to participate in the inaugural function of
Pedicon 2011 and to take over as the national president IAP 2011. Let me,
at the outset, congratulate all the members of the organizing committee
especially Dr Usha Acharya, the chief convener, Dr BS Sharma, the
organizing chairman, and Dr Tarun Patni, the dynamic organizing secretary,
for organizing such a wonderful conference here. I also thank all the
fellow pediatricians who are assembled here, for electing me as President
for the year 2011. I assure you that I will uphold the ideals of this
prestigious organization at all levels. Most importantly I request your
help and guidance to implement IAP action plan for 2011 and make this year
a memorable one. I would also like to congratulate our immediate past
president Dr Deepak Ugra, secretary general Dr Tanmay Amlady and treasurer
Dr Sailesh Gupta, for their inspiring activities during the last year and
I wish Dr Deepak all the best. I would also like to extend my hearty
congratulations to Dr Rohit Agarwal, the president elect 2011 and wish him
success.
IAP Action Plan 2011
1. Training Programs for Pediatric Education
Having worked as a teacher in pediatrics for 32 years
now, it is my observation that we should focus our efforts towards
improving pediatric education at the undergraduate and postgraduate
levels.
Faculty training program
With the increasing number of new medical colleges
coming up across the country, there is a shortage of teaching staff,
especially at the middle cadre level. It falls to us to take the
responsibility of imparting training to these teachers. Hence we are
planning to have 5 workshops on faculty training through each zone of IAP.
Art and science of paper writing
Research in pediatrics is lacking at the medical
college level as well as among the practitioners. So we are planning a two
day workshop on the art and science of paper writing in each zone of IAP,
to be conducted by Indian Pediatrics.
Revision of undergraduate teaching slides
Compact discs containing undergraduate teaching slides
were prepared by Dr Chandrashekharan (Chennai) under the leadership of Dr
Nitin Shah. We are revising these based on the new undergraduate
curriculum and will be including new chapters on pediatric clinical
examination, objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), pediatric
radiology, common drugs and common pediatric procedures.
Intensive clinical training programs for DNB and MD
students
Currently DNB examination results are not up to the
expectations, so to improve these results, we are planning to conduct a
five day program on clinical training and OSCE throughout the country. The
first program will be inaugurated at Calicut on 22nd February 2011.
2. Workshops
Neonatal resuscitation program (NRP)
Neonatal resuscitation program and NSSK (Navjat Shishu
Suraksha Karyakram) is one of the promising aspects of IAP in the
government and private sectors, to reduce the infant mortality in India.
The third regional trainers TOT has been conducted at Jaipur on 18th
and 19th January, 2011.
IAP launched the NRP First Golden Minute (FGM) project
in 2009 to address the issue of high neonatal mortality in India. As a
result of which the government of India launched the basic newborn care
and resuscitation program under NSSK to reduce the neonatal mortality. IAP
has adopted the NSSK training manual for use in private sector with the
permission of MoHFW, Government of India. IAP plans to roll out basic
newborn care and resuscitation programs in the private sector to train
2,00,000 health care providers in the country in coming three years, under
an academic grant from Johnson and Johnson India. NRP FGM is not a project
but a mission for IAP and this TOT has been conducted by distinguished
teams of instructors from AAP, LDSC, USA and Indian faculty under the
guidance of Dr. William Keenan popularly known as "Father of NRP" in USA.
Rational antibiotic therapy
To avoid the misuse of antibiotics in pediatric
practice, we will be launching a program on rational antibiotic therapy
Asthma training module
This popular training module was started in 2002 while
I was chairperson of the respiratory chapter of IAP. Currently we are
planning to modify this module and conduct 35 workshops throughout the
country. Furthermore we will be conducting other popular workshops of IAP
like Respiratory tract infection Group education module (RTI Gem), Art and
Science of Vaccinology (ASOV), ASK IAP program and Comprehensive diarrhea
management.
3. Community Oriented Programs
Anti tobacco campaign
Smoking and substance abuse is increasing among the
adolescents. So we are coming forward with a program on anti tobacco
campaign for school children and parents, along with the guidelines of
IPA.
Child friendly school initiative program (CFSI)
In the light of the numerous problems being faced by
children in schools, we are initiating this program consisting of five
steps and the certification of these schools as CFSI should they satisfy
these criteria.
I. No physical punishment in school: Physical
punishment may actually do harm (e.g.: school phobia). The child instead
may be punished by other non-physical methods.
II. No excess baggage: Excessive baggage and weight
lead to backache, neck pain etc (School bag syndrome). The school bag
with contents should weigh less than 10% of the child’s body weight. Up
to the 5th or 6th standard, there may be
some provision for keeping the books in the school. For different terms
we can use different notebooks. We can also attempt to have separate
textbooks for each term. File system is another alternative method.
III. Adequate number of toilets: There should be one
urinal for 60 students and one latrine for 100 students, with provision
for separate latrines and toilets for boys and girls.
IV. Safe and proper transportation to school: There
should be provision for safe travel to and from school. Travel in two-
or three-wheelers ought to be discouraged. Nor should there be an excess
of children in the school vehicle.
V. Adequate class rooms and play grounds: The maximum
number of students in a classroom should be 40. The class room should
have enough space (10 sq. feet/student or 400 sq.feet/classroom. The
furniture should have a proper back rest and facilities for desk work.
The Nursery and primary school should be in a single storied building.
There should be verandas for all school buildings. There should be a
minimum of 4 hours for sports and cultural activities. The school should
have an adequate playground (10 acres of land for a high school and 5
acres for a primary school).
4. Publications
Work on the 5th edition of the popular book; IAP Text
book of Pediatrics is proceeding under the leadership of the editor in
chief Dr. A. Parthasarthy, editors Dr. PSN Menon, Dr MKC Nair and Dr
Piyush Gupta and this edition will be published soon.
The textbook of clinical pediatrics, one of the action
plans of Dr Deepak Ugra and specialty book series prepared by Dr Nitin
Shah under his action plan, will be revised this year. We are also
planning to publish a textbook of pediatric radiology, a textbook of
childhood disability, and a series of compact discs on pediatric clinical
examination.
5. Protocol Training
Allergic rhinitis is a common allergic disorder in
children with a prevalence of 40 percent. A module on allergic rhinitis
and co-morbidities is ready and had a successful TOT at Jaipur.
Furthermore, we are planning to conduct 35 programs on ARCM this year.
TOTs on poor scholastic performance in children and
neonatal hearing screening programs have already been held and we will be
continuing with such workshops.
Modules on growth monitoring, developmental assessment
and autism have been prepared by the growth and development chapter of IAP
and we are planning to conduct 5 workshops in each zone of IAP.
6. Conferences
We are planning an international CME on recent advances
in neonatology, pediatrics and adolescence on 4th and 5th June at Kochi.
7. Overseas Program
We are planning to rejuvenate the Dubai chapter of IAP
and will have an international CME at Dubai by April 2011. Dr. Sunny
Kurian the president of AKMG, Dubai has accepted the proposal and will be
co-ordinating the CME.
8. Adolescent Counseling Training Program
Adolescents have various physical, mental and
behavioral problems and they need proper counseling. The TOT and
Adolescent counseling training program is over and these trainers will be
continuing the program throughout the country. It makes me glad that these
counseling training programs were conducted by Dr Paul Russel and Dr Priya
Mammen, child psychiatrist from CMC Vellore and Dr MKC Nair.
9. Family Benefit Scheme (FBS)
This is a dream project benefitting family members of
pediatricians in India. FBS is successfully being conducted by IMA,
Ophthalmology Society of India and Radiology Society of India. We expect a
minimum of 3500 members, such that each member can receive fraternity
benefit of at least 10 lac Rupees. Therefore, I request all of you to join
this program and make it a grand success.
10. Nutritional Education Program
This program mainly focuses on preparing guidelines on
management of micronutrient deficiencies in children. We are planning to
conduct 25 workshops throughout the country for pediatricians followed by
nutritional education to mothers through medical camps.
Before I conclude my acceptance speech, permit me to
honor one of the past presidents of IAP, a legendary personality, Editor
of IAP text book of Pediatrics, and my guru, Dr A Parthasarathy for
guiding me throughout my career. Lastly, I thank all my colleagues in the
Department of Pediatrics, ICH Kottayam, Pushpagiri Institute of Medical
Sciences Thiruvalla and all IAPians of Kottayam for their support and
guidance. I thank my parents, my wife Dr PK Rajakumary, Dr Sankar Das my
son-in-law, my daughters Dr Asha, Reshmi and Anju for their support. I
thank the almighty for showering all blessings on us. Working together
works, now let us join our hands together as one, to improve the health of
Indian children.
Jai IAP, Jai Hind.