Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Jun 8: For the very first time in the history of Jammu and Kashmir, a national level conference on neonatology is being held in SKICC Srinagar that is going to start tomorrow.
The conference will be organised by NNF- Kashmir, a city/ UT branch of NNF India.
A doctor, who is part of the organizing committee wishing not to be named, said that an important development related to 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.
The conference will be held on 9th and 10th June 2023 in SKICC Srinagar. Five pre-conference high end workshops today marked the begining of a new era of Neonatology in the UT of J&K.
Dr Showkat Ahmad Tali, Associate Professor Pediatrics and Neonatologist at GMC Anantnag who is also chief organizational secretary of the conference said that medical education in Kashmir started in 1959 when foundation of GMC Srinagar was laid and since then no such conference has been held in Kashmir since then.
“The aim of organizing this conference is 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 are involving high government officials in this conference so that such facilities can be availed and improved in peripheral hospitals,” Dr Showkat said.
“This conference will help in starting a new era in neonatal care and bringing revolution in pediatric healthcare in Kashmir,” he added.
He added that almost 150 top neonatologists from different parts of the country and around 600 top delegates are attending the conference.
Meanwhile on Thursday, pre-conference workshops under the aegis of NeoCon-2023 were conducted at many hospitals in Kashmir.
The workshops were conducted at GMC Anantnag, GMC Srinagar, GMC Baramulla, JLNM Hospital and Noora hospital Srinagar. They focused on several important areas related to neonatal health and medical practice. Topics covered included neonatal resuscitation, neonatal ventilation, Quality improvement, neonatal nursing and other common neonatal health issues and interventions. The workshops also focused on providing participants with the latest advancements and updates in the field of neonatology.
“The workshops were designed to update healthcare professionals with the latest evidence-based practices and equip them with the necessary skills to improve neonatal care and outcomes,” said Dr. Showkat Hussain Tali.
The workshops were conducted by a team of experienced neonatologists from across the country. The national coordinators for the workshops were Dr. Adarsh, Dr. Lalan Bharti, Dr. Pramita Anand, Dr. Kumar Ankur, Dr. Ankur Thakur, and Ms. Savita. The local coordinators included Dr Mohd Ashraf Bhat, Dr Shahid Hussain Wani, Dr Mubashir Hassan Shah, Dr Suhail Naik, Dr Reyaz Ahmad Mallah, Dr Yasir Wani, Dr Tanveer Bashir, Dr Waseem Iqbal, Dr Mohammad Irshad and Dr Ishfaq Masood—(KNO)
