The Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Government General Hospital (GGH), Chennai, will shortly be submitting a proposal to the state Health Department for commissioning a bone bank at the state government hospital premises.

According to Dr. Mayil Vahanan Natarajan, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, GGH, the proposal will be drafted after discussions with experts at the fourth biennial conference of Asia-Pacific Musculo Skeletal Tumour Society (APMST) to be held in Chennai on July 6, 2002.

Dr. Natarajan said that a bone bank is a dire necessity and needs to be set up in almost all hospitals. "Unfortunately only one hospital in Mumbai has such a facility in the country which is sad. Once we have this facility, we can freeze bones and transplant them to other patients. The need for an artificial limp would be ruled out," he further added.

Meanwhile, the fourth biennial conference of APSMT will witness participation form over 150 experts in the field of bone and soft tissue cancer from various countries including Japan, Korea, Australia, Turkey and Thailand. The conference will have special lectures on medical and surgical modalities of treatment. The conference will also witness presentation of honours to oncologists who have done pioneering work in the field of musculo skeletal oncology.

The awardees include Dr. M.Natarajan, Dr. T.K.Shanmugasundaram, Dr.S. Krishnamurthy, Dr. P.V.A. Mohandoss, Dr. Janos Stumpf, Dr. K.Selvam and social worker, Darlane Large.