Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Jun 10: Annual North Zone NeoCon-2023 conference organised for the very first time in the history of Jammu and Kashmir, has concluded in SKICC Srinagar on Saturday.
The conference was organised by NNF- Kashmir, a city/ UT branch of NNF India.
Doctors said conducting such a conference is important development related to the academic world in Kashmir, the Department of Paediatrics GMC Anantnag is hosting “North Zone NEOCON-2023” a Zonal National level Conference of National Neonatology Forum of India.
They said that the conference has focused on several important areas related to neonatal health and medical practice. Topics that were covered included neonatal resuscitation, neonatal ventilation, Quality improvement, neonatal nursing and other common neonatal health issues and interventions.
“It also focused on providing participants with the latest advancements and updates in the field of neonatology,” they added.
Notably, the Department of Pediatrics, Government Medical College (GMC) Anantnag played a great role in conducting this “Annual North Zone Conference, NeoCon-2023” at SKICC Srinagar, from June 9 to June 10, 2023 in Coordination with “National Neonatology Forum of India and its JK Chapter”.
On the last day during the prize distribution ceremony in the category of “Free Paper Presentation “Dr Chaitra Angadi won Gold medal, Dr Prachi Patwal Silver and Dr Andleeb Majeed Bronze Medal while as in the Category of “Poster Papers” Dr Risha Dev won Gold, Dr Prachi Patwal Silver and Dr Om Prakash Yadav and Dr Shaib Mohd Bhat won Bronze medal each.
In the category of “Award Papers” Dr Bhrajishna Pallapothu won Gold medal while as Dr Smitamayee Sahu had to settle with Silver medal.
Patron and Principal GMC Anantnag, Dr (Prof), Syed Tariq Qureshi while thanking the team of organisers including Dr Ravi Sachan, Dr Sunil Dutt Sharma, Dr Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat and Dr Showkat Hussain Tali in particular for successfully conducting the national level conference and he further extended gratitude to all the dignitaries, delegates and participants for their participation, contribution and commitment in providing better child and neonatal care in particular to the society at large.
“The conference was to update healthcare professionals with the latest evidence-based practices and equip them with the necessary skills to improve neonatal care and outcomes,” said Patron and Principal GMC Anantnag, Dr (Prof) Syed Tariq Qureshi.
Dr Showkat Ahmad Tali, Associate Professor Paediatrics and Neonatologist at GMC Anantnag who was also chief organizational secretary of the conference said that the aim of organizing this conference was to create awareness about neonatology as neonatal care is being taken lightly in J&K but neonatal care is of utmost importance and if we will take care well it will help in decreasing mortality and there won’t be any problems in children in their coming life,” he said.
“We have good neonatal facilities in Srinagar but in peripheral hospitals Kashmir is lacking such facilities and we have involved high government officials in this conference so that such facilities can be availed and improved in peripheral hospitals,” Dr Showkat said.
“This conference will definitely help in starting a new era in neonatal care and bringing revolution in paediatric healthcare in Kashmir,” he added.
He added that almost 150 top neonatologists from different parts of the country and around 500 top delegates were part of the conference.
Pertinently, the pre-conference workshops were conducted across many Kashmir Hospitals on 8th Of June viz-a-viz Neonatal Care, Neonatal Feeding, Neonatal Resuscitation and rehabilitation among others.
It is also pertinent to mention that it was the first ever “Zonal NeoCon Conference,” held in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
