PEDICON 2002, BANGALORE, 39TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE IAP

The annual conference of the IAP, PEDICON 2002 was hosted more than 4000 delegates! At Bangalore, at the Hotel Grand Ashoka on 24th to 27th January 2002.

There were pre-conference workshops organized on Research Methodology, Office Practice, and Pediatric Intensive Care. The participants of the Bicycle Rally included the senior most member Retd. Wing Commander Shri Yeshwant Marathe who now enters his 72th year.

The inauguration at the Kanteerava Indoor Stadium was graced by Chief Minister, S.M.Krishna and the former Chief Minister, S.Bangarappa of Karnataka State amongst other dignitaries. 

The CME held on 24th was well received by the delegates and indeed the hall remained full most of the day. 

The them of the main conference was "Quality Care in Pediatrics". There were more than thirty guest lectures, ten Meet the Expert sessions, ten Concurrent Subspecialty Chapter symposia and hordes of free oral papers and almost a hundred poster papers for the information-hungry. 

For the more discerning, there were of course, the award paper sessions (see section on Award Winners for more details) and in a lighter vein, the Undergraduate Quiz and the Practicing Pediatricians Quiz. Not to forget the sponsored symposia on HIV-AIDS, Asthma, IMCI and its role in IAPs activities, Safety Practices in use of Injection , etc, most of which drew3 packed halls. In addition was the President's plenary on Quality Care in Pediatrics and the first ever plenary on Evidence Based Medicine.

There was a dialog session on Immunization moderated by none other than our Secretary General, Dr.Nitin Shah! More importantly, the joint extraordinary meeting of the office bearers of IAP with the Immunization Committee and the Infectious Diseases Subspecialty Chapter of IAP was convened to thrash out important issues like the new Hepatitis B immunization schedule.

Additionally was a dialog session (also for the first time in National Conference) on various aspects of Adolescent Care moderated by Dr.Dilip Mukherjee, the President of IAP.

There were at least a thousand accompanying delegates and children at the venue who enjoyed the services of the Hospitality Center and the competitions at the scientific exhibition section. Lucky dips and services included, soaps, shampoos, and even Corsa at one of the stalls, and free trips to a silk saree emporium. 

The cream of the cake was the valedictory function, which, though attended by few, was unique in many ways. The chairpersons of various committees were introduced in the most befitting manner and felicitated very deservedly. As usual, Dr.Pukhraj Bafna and Dr.Pramod Jog made their presence felt by impromptu compositions, which sent titters through the crowd.

Last, but not the least we put on records the congratulations and thanks to Dr.K Jayoji Rao, Dr.H.Paramesh, Dr.Shivananda and the organizing committee members who dynamism made this conference so successful. Keep up the good work, Bangalore! Mumbai too!.