Parasitology experts have called for more research for evolving better diagnostic, curative and preventive protocols for a spectrum of parasitic infections which are of public health importance to India.
The experts, who have assembled for the TROPACON 2016, the 10th national conference of the Indian Academy of Tropical Parasitology (IATP) hosted by the Department of Microbiology, JIPMER, also sounded alarm over the rise of drug-resistance in parasitic diseases, especially malaria, which continue to be an important cause for morbidity and mortality in the country.
The conference also marked a decade of Tropical Parasitology in India by hosting discussions on the theme, “Freedom from Parasitic Diseases”.
Prof. Anisa Basheer Khan, Vice-Chancellor (i/c), Pondicherry University, advocated increased collaboration between universities and medical institutions like JIPMER for promoting wide-ranging research on the branch. She also called for the establishment of a premier institute devoted to parasitology on the lines of the National Institute of Virology.
Professor Khan also pointed to the disturbing phenomenon of drug resistance, where infections which could be effectively managed with specific drugs were no longer responding to conventional therapeutics.
Professor Basheer later released the conference souvenir and presented various awards during inauguration.
The Dr. Subhash Chandra Parija Oration award was presented to Dr. Suresh Govind and the Malaysia and IATP Fellowship award was presented to Dr. Devendra Kumar, Puducherry.
Parasitologists Dr. Pradeep Das, Dr.Sarman Singh, Dr. PK Mohapatra, Dr. Jagadish Mahanta and Dr.Sumeetha Kurana were felicitated for their significant contribution to the development of the IATP.
Dr. Subhash Chandra Parija, Director of JIPMER and president of IATP, appealed to young researchers to engage more with the parasitology discipline as serious research was required to come up with better methods to diagnose and treat the array of parasitic infections of public health importance to India and the Asian region.
In fact, several parasitic diseases were also unique to India, he pointed out.
Dr. Geethalakshmi, Vice-Chancellor, Tamilnadu Dr. MGR Medical University and IATP vice president, underscored the role of the IATP in providing a collaborative and knowledge-sharing platform for evolving improved protocols in parasitology.
Dr. Sumeeta Khurana, secretary, IATP, presented a report.
Oral and poster presentations are an integral part of the conference and the best presentations in each category will be awarded during the conference. Symposia will cover parasitic topics of importance by eminent speakers from India and across the globe.
About 200 delegates from India and abroad are participating in the event, which will conclude on Sunday.
