Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC) will host a three-day international spine and spinal injuries conference (ISSICON - 2002) in New Delhi from November 22, 2002. The conference will be attended by more than 250 delegates from all parts of the country and abroad and would discuss the latest techniques used in spinal injury treatment and management. The conference will also witness the birth of "Indian Spinal Cord Society", meant to link all professionals and volunteers attached to treatment and rehabilitation of spinal cord affected patients.

Live demonstrations of surgery on spine fixation, bladder management, hydrotherapy etc will be part of the conference.

Announcing this at a press conference here on Thursday, HPS Ahluwalia, chairman, ISIC said that conference will be a convergence point where specialists from all parts of the world can get together to discuss and demonstrate the latest techniques in this area. "We feel that as the model for spinal injury management in western countries is not applicable to India, the conference should provide a forum for evolving a model which address the problem of spinal injuries in developing countries effectively," he said.

The main differences between the patients in the West and the Indian patients are their average age and also the time taken to be admitted to the specialty care center. A large number of faculty members from USA, Canada, Europe, Australia etc are to participate in the event. An Afghanistan delegation has also confirmed its presence in the conference, Ahluwalia said.

ISSICON 2002 is to be inaugurated by Dr A K Walia, minister of health and urban development, National Capital Territory of Delhi.