Mangaluru: Visitors/tourists coming to Mangaluru in the next four days will be all out of luck if they are looking for a stay in hotels in the City and DK, since all the rooms have been booked by the organizers of the 43rd National Conference- DERMACON 2015, the biggest medical conference to take place in the City. “No Vacancy” or “We are sold out, Sir/Madam” will be the reply if you happen to call the reservation department or walk in to the front desk of any hotels in town. It is learned that hotels have booked up to Udupi, Manipal, and surrounding areas of DK.
Speaking to me, my friend, Naveen Rodrigues-owner of Ave Maria Travels who is undertaking all the travel arrangements for the delegates of this conference, who said, ” Forget about the non-availability of hotel rooms, even all of the taxis, mini-vans, tempo travelers etc have been booked for transporting delegates. A Jet-Airways charter flight has also been booked exclusively for this event, which will bring in delegates to Mangaluru on 12 February and fly them back on 15 Feb. This is the biggest event that I have undertaken, and I feel proud to be associated with this event, since most of the local doctors at the helm of this conference are my friends”.
Addressing the media persons during a press meet, Dr Ganesh Pai, the Organizing Chairman of the conference said, ” The Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists (IADVL) will be conducting DERMACON 2015 43rd National Conference at Mangalore from 12th – 15th February 2015. The conference will be hosted by IADVL – Karnataka Branch in association with Karavali Dermatology Society [KDS] and Medical Colleges of this region. The conference will be held at Dr TMA Pai International Convention Centre. This is the biggest ever medical conference to be held in this part of the country. Nearly 5,000 delegates from all over India and abroad will participate in this mega event”.
Dr Ramesh Bhat- Organizing Secretary said, “The National conference is held in Mangaluru after a long gap of 32 years. In 1983, a similar kind of Conference was held where nearly 500 delegates participated among the 800 skin specialists in India, whereas for the forthcoming Conference 2015 nearly 5,000 among the 8,000 skin specialists in India will be attending. This depicts the progress made in the Dermatological medical education”.
Prof Dr. Ganesh S Pai is the organizing committee chairman; Dr. Ramesh Bhat, Professor & Head of Dermatology Department, Father Muller Medical College is the organizing secretary; Dr. Narendra Kamath, the President of IADVL Karnataka Branch is the chairman for Workshop and CME on “Scientific principles in Cosmetic Dermatology” to be held on 12th Feb 2015; Dr. Manjunath Shenoy, Professor & Head of Dermatology department, Yenepoya Medical College and Dr. Pramod Kumar, Professor & Head of Dermatology department, KMC Mangalore are the Joint organizing secretaries of the conference.
Dr. Sathish Pai, Professor & Head of Dermatology department, KMC Manipal is the Chairman of Conference Scientific Committee. Dr. Sukumar D, Professor Dept. of Dermatology, Father Muller Medical College is the Treasurer of the conference. The conference will have scientific deliberations in the field of Dermatology, Venereology, Leprosy and Cosmetology. The conference is also accredited by Karnataka Medical Council for 6 points.
The workshop will showcase the world class innovations in technological devices like lasers and surgical pearls. The conference will highlight on skin manifestations of lifestyle diseases and skin cancers which is a growing concern. The lectures will be delivered by renowned National and International Faculty. The CME and workshop will be inaugurated by Rev. Fr. Patrick Rodrigues, Director Father Muller Charitable Institutions and Trade exhibition will be inaugurated by Mr. A B Ibrahim, Deputy Commissioner, DK District on 12th Feb 2015 at 10.30 am.
The Trade Expo wil feature advanced equipment used in the treatment of diseases and also the stalls set up by the pharmaceutical companies. There will be nearly 120 stalls and also some shops selling handicraft items. A special android applicatio has also been designed exclusively for the conference and the updates of the programmes will be made available to the delegates through the app. This app was created to save paper, and be eco-friendly.
The conference will be inaugurated by Mr. U T Khader, Hon. Health Minister of Karnataka Govt. Dr. Pritam Gopinath Munde, Dermatologist and Parliament member will be the guest of honour. Dr. Deepak Parikh , President IADVL, Dr. Venkataram Mysore, President Elect IADVL, Dr. Rashmi Sarkar, Hon. Gen. Secretary IADVL will also be present during the inaugural function.
“Senior skin specialists and teachers from India will be honoured during this conference. Nearly 1,000 papers will be presented by Dermatologists and Post Graduates. There will cultural programmes every day at the Conference venue and also at City beaches. This conference will also help in promoting tourism and business in this part of the country” said Ramesh Bhat.
Dr Pramod Kumar- Joint secretary, Dr Sukumar-treasurer and Dr Narendra Kamath- Co-ordinator of the conference were also present during the press meet.