Indian Academy of Pediatrics, Gujarat State Branch... Ever Flourishing.

Indian Academy of Pediatrics (central) was born in 1963 at Hyderabad with around 140 pediatricians as its members and the 5^th National conference of IAP was held in Ahmedabad in 1968 under able leadership of Dr. (Mrs.) A. B. Desai as organizing secretary. In 1968, there were few numbers of pediatricians in Ahmedabad & as a whole in the state of Gujarat. It was a good opportunity for all the pediatricians to work together as the team during organization of national conference. The successful organization of the conference & appreciation of the team by  the delegates from all over country, increased the enthusiasm of pediatricians of Ahmedabad city. They felt the need of formation of city branch for working together for academic activities & cause of child health. The guidance of Dr. (Mrs.) A.B. Desai & her dynamic, able leadership brought all the pediatricians of the city under the banner of Indian Academy of Pediatrics, Ahmedabad Branch in 1969. After 6 years of it, Indian academy of Gujarat State Branch was formed in 1975 with active efforts of Dr. (Mrs.) A.B.Desai, Dr. A.S. Silhar (Rajkot), Dr. Arun Phatak (Vadodara), Dr. Sanat Shah (Vadodara) & Other active members. In tune with the concept of the child as an ever growing organism, the Indian Academy of Pediatrics Gujarat State Branch also has grown over the last thirty five years. IAP Gujarat State Branch which had less than 100 members in 1975, has strength of membership of around 1000. Annual conference of the branch was the only activity initially & it was the great attraction for all the pediatricians of the state. Without any interruption with increasing enthusiasm & interest of the members, all the 35 years, annual conferences have been organised at different towns of the state. The branch has flourished to 17 city branches & all of them are active & organizing activities round the year. It was felt that post graduates were not getting opportunities to present their work & as a result it was decided in 1992 to organize Midterm Scientific Meet at one of the medical collages in the state by turn. It is continued till date, although it requires active participation of all the faculty members as well as post graduates. As a mark of respect & appreciation of the efforts put in for development of the branch by Dr. (Mrs.) A. B. Desai, the oration on her name is organised during Midterm Scientific Meet. Bal Arogya Ni Chavi is very popular publication of the branch in Gujarati providing useful & scientific information to the parents. The efforts put in by Dr. Arun Phatak, the founder editor of the booklet, deserves special mentioning.

Its pride for the Indian Academy of Pediatrics, Gujarat State Branch that its three members, Dr. (Mrs.) A.B.Desai (1987), Dr. Raju C. Shah (2005) & Dr. Naveen Thacker (2007) shined the post of president of central IAP with efficient administration & significant academic contributions.

TRUMPPS and PSSS are novel activities of the branch. Training of Untrained Medical and Paramedical Pediatric Staff (TRUMPPS) is headed by Dr. Digant Shastri (Surat) and Dr. Satish Pandya. The TRUMPPS is in the check list of Bal Sakha Yojana- GOG Project. All the city branches carry out every programme of central IAP road the year. IAP Gujarat state branch is also participating in several activities organized by Government and non-government organizations for the cause of child health.

We are happy to announce the launching of "iapgujarat.com" an official website of IAP Gujarat State, today on 14^th June 2009, under president ship of Dr. Nilesh Banker (Anand). The website, the demand of this era, provides information about various activities and salient features of IAP GSB. It is useful for IAP GSB members as well as parents.

Dr. (Mrs.) S.N. Vani (Ahmedabad) Dr. Raju Shah (Ahmedabad) Dr. Baldev Prajapati (Ahmedabad), Dr. Satish Pandya (Vadodara), Dr. Harshad Takwani (Jamnagar) & several other active members have contributed significantly in the development of the branch.

Let us join the hands to increase the membership strength, organization of its own office, efficient administration & to plan academic activities relevant to the advancement of the science & that's possible by active participation of all the members. It is the duty of every pediatrician to devote some of his/her time to IAP GSB, their parent & patron body. I can foresee the bright future of the flourishing branch in the coming days.

Dr. Baldev S. Prajapati

President,

Indian Academy of Pediatrics

Gujarat State Branch (2003)

  It is happy Indian Academy of Pediatrics Gujarat State Branch