ICONIC 2014 discusses prevention and control measures of COPD

(L-R) Dr Robert Wise, Dr Keshav Desiraju, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, Dr DJ Christopher and Dr SK Jindal address the press at ICONIC 2014

ICONIC 2014, the first conference focusing on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in India, was recently held in Pune. Keshav Desiraju, Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India the Secretary for Health inaugurated the conference focusing on COPD in India. ‘India needs a National COPD Prevention and Control Programme’ was discussed at the conference. The conference which has 18 overseas faculty and 15 national speakers was jointly hosted by Chest Research Foundation (CRF) and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA. It was endorsed by various leading international institutions such as Indian Chest Society, American Thoracic Society, European Respiratory Society and others.

Speaking at ICONIC 2014, Dr Sundeep Salvi, Director, Chest Research Foundation said, “ICONIC brings together experts across the healthcare industry including physicians, public health policy makers and researchers to bridge gaps in the field of COPD prevention, control and management in India. It is an opportunity to share the latest developments in COPD research both from the US and India, which they can use it to treat their patients better.”

Dr Shyam Biswal, Department of Environmental Health Science, John Hopkins School of Public Health, USA, said, “ICONIC serves as a great platform for young researchers and physicians to showcase their research work and receive constructive feedback from the leading experts in the world. It will also help them to polish and shape their research studies so that they can derive meaningful and qualitative data that will benefit the world. Further, it also creates opportunities for doctors in America and India to come together to form collaborations for exchange of knowledge which will help to combat the COPD epidemic.”

EP News Bureau – Mumbai