Udaipur saw its first major CME on “Advances in Treatment of Thalassemia” on 18th April, arranged by the Raven Charitable Trust (RCT) and endorsed by the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP). Guest speakers included Dr Rashid Merchant, who travelled from Mumbai; Dr Chirag Shah and Dr Pushkar Shrivastava from Apollo, Ahmedabad together with local speakers.The programme opened with Dr A.P. Gupta, head of IAP, addressing the floor with a comprehensive introduction to Thalassemia; followed by leading physician, Dr Pushkar Shrivastava, from Apollo, Ahmedabad, who specifically addressed evaluation of the condition in children.
Dr Rashid Merchant of Nanavati Hospital Mumbai presented a lively paper on “Management of Iron Overload” and gave a clear message that non-chelation in transfusion is no better than murder!Local Udaipur speakers included Dr R.L. Suman who discussed transfusions in the Thalassemia child; and Mrs Purvi Shah presented on the importance of stem cells in future curative treatment for the condition.
More than … local paediatricians attended, and after the guest speakers finished their presentations, there was a Q & A session chaired by Dr A.P. Gupta and local IAP chairman, Dr Suresh Goyal, where delegates were able to address questions to the experts.
Thalassemia is one of the conditions that The Raven Charitable Trust will be researching and treating at its new Deesha Hospital rural hospital outside Udaipur.
Founder of the RCT, Mrs Charlotte Raven had travelled from the UK to attend the CME, and also addressed delegates on the history or the Trust and her involvement in it. She had been lucky enough to leave the UK just hours before the volcanic ash cloud halted flights out of Europe for six consecutive days.
Thalassemia is a genetic disease where if the parents are carriers there are 25% chances of having an affected baby. This disease is more common in a few states of India and these small kids of 1 yr age have to undergo blood transfusions every fortnight to remain alive as their body produces wrong haemoglobin which is ineffective in carrying oxygen. BUT THE MAIN PART OF THE STORY IS THAT THE DISEASE IS CURABLE AND PREVENTABLE......... (More about the disease in next blog)
I invite all the followers of The Raven Foundation who are really interested in medical science to follow this new blog of RCT entirely dedicated to medical expertise of the foundation.
