The 40th Annual Conference of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP) will be held in Mumbai from January 1-5, 2003. Jointly organized by the twin branches of IAP, namely, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, the annual conference will focus on the theme of 'Secure Childhood - Safe adulthood'. Pedicon 2003, which has returned to Mumbai after a gap of 20 years is expected to draw as many as 4,500 delegates.
IAP Mumbai is one of the leading branches in the country with over 1,500 registered members. Many of its senior members have served the academy in the past as president. During the four-day gathering, major health issues such as neonatal infections, developmental problems, HIV in paediatrics, dilemmas in diagnosis, and treatment of re-emerging infections would be discussed at length.
"At Pedicon 2003, the IAP will make an attempt to design some standard protocols and give recommendations to improve the health of children in India," said Dr. M.R. Lokeshwar, who is one of the organizing chairmen of the convention. The experts will also dwell at length on the polio eradication programme and the reasons for delay in achieving the dream of a polio-free India, said Pedicon 2003 organising Chairman Dr. Prashant Moralwar.
"One of the popular attractions of the conference will be the final rounds of the scientific quiz for undergraduate medical students and practicing pediatricians," said Dr. Nitin Shah, who is the Secretary General of the Central Indian Academy of Pediatrics and is one of the organizing secretaries of the convention.
According to Dr. Rohit Agarwal and Dr. Vijay Yewale, the highlight at Pedicon 2003 will be the eight pre-conference workshops to be held on different clinical subjects in various medical institutes throughout Mumbai on January 1, 2003. Some of them are, 'Emergencies in pediatrics' in JJ Hospital, 'Neonatology in a nutshell for practicing pediatricians' in Bombay Hospital and 'Pediatrics Neurology Workshop' in Hinduja Hospital.
The main conference, comprising of a large number of plenary sessions, guest lectures, special orations and interactive sessions would be held on January 3,4 and 5 at the Renaissance Hotel, Powai, Mumbai. Many of the guest lectures are to be delivered by experts of international renown like Dr. Jean Aicardi of France, Carmelo Rizzari of Italy, Hoosen Coovadia of South Africa, Anthony Costello of UK and Oliver Goulet of France, John Price of UK, Dr. Juhani Eskola of France, Sunil Sinha of UK, Geoffrey Cleghorn of Australia, Terry Nolan of Australia among others.