The role of a paediatrician does not end with the treatment of children. He should also counsel them on what is right and wrong, on what is good and bad, according to Swami Srikantananda, the Chief of Ramakrishna Mutt in Hyderabad and Director of Vivekananda Institute of Human Excellence.

Inaugurating the 29th annual conference of the Indian Association of Paediatricians, AP Chapter, IAP PEDOCON 2002, at Gandhi Medical College, Hyderabad, Swami Srikantananda regretted that the parents and the teachers were not discharging their duties properly in this era of commercialism. They had failed to inculcate positive thinking and moral values in children. Therefore, the doctors should do their bit to fill this gap, he said.

Due to parental negligence, children were not getting adequate guidance to distinguish between right and wrong, good and bad. Exposure to the electronic media and westernisation of Indian value systems were also affecting the moral thinking in children. With the result, children were lacking in moral strength, self-control and confidence, the Swami said.

“The concept of home as a school had been forgotten and homes have now become hotels and theatres. Parents are providing food for the children but doing nothing to nourish their minds and souls,” he said.

In the present society, the teenagers were facing a lot of problems and the paediatricians should focus more on making the future citizens healthy and capable, Swami Srikantananda said.

Dr Y C Mathur, past national president of IAP, said the conference would go a long way in evolving better diagnostic and treatment methods. The government should involve IAP in the formulation of the health policy, he said.

Over 300 doctors from all over the state took part in the two-day conference that ended on Sunday evening. The conference deliberated on wide-ranging subjects under the theme “ Adolescents' Healthcare, Our Concern.”

Gandhi Medical College Principal Dr M Meenakshi, IAP (AP) president Dr T P Gandhi, secretary Dr M Dasaratharami Reddy, organising secretary Dr B Narayana Goud and joint organising secretary Dr P Venketeswar Rao also spoke on the various problems related to adolescents.