Everything about this initiative was new- new topic, new
collaborations, new numbers, new insight, new perspective.
There is no denying to the fact the addiction in our society
is a huge problem and each and every strata of the society is engulfed in
it - rich and poor, young and old, rural and urban- no one is spared. As the
menace is increasing with no sign of regression, it was felt that the
family physician can and should play a crucial role to screen, diagnose,
treat and prevent addiction.
Rotary Club of Bombay West in association with PP Rtn.Yogesh
Zaveri of RC Ghatkopar and Dr.Madhu Oswal of Muktaa Charitable Foundation
organized a Addiction Medicine Workshop for General Practitioners.
The program was a great success. The program was planned in
a series of 7 lectures, every Wednesday starting from 2nd March 2016. Within a couple of days of firing the first
SMS, we received more than 150 registrations… the response was absolutely
mind-blowing.
The programme started on 2nd March with a bang- Dr Harish
Shetty, a renowned psychiatrist enthralled the crowd of 140 doctors coming from
all over Mumbai and beyond. Over seven weeks all the major drugs like tobacco,
alcohol, cannabis, opium, mephedrone, club drugs, designer drugs were discussed
in details – from diagnosis to management. There were sharing by ex- addicts,
there was a session on legal aspect, there was participation by NGOs,
de-addiction centres. Top notch doctors working in addiction medicine in Mumbai
guided the participants- Dr Shubhangi Parkar from KEM, Dr Ashish Deshpande,
President of Bombay Psychiatric Society, Dr Rakesh Ghildiyal from MGM Hospital,
Dr Kiran Shandiliya, Dr Shilpa Adarkar, Head of KEM Hospital's Centre of
Excellence for Drug De-addiction, Dr Avinash De sousa, etc. DCP Jayant
Naiknavare from Anti Narcotics Cell, Mumbai enlightened us on the legal issues
of drug problem in Mumbai.
Of course, the best part was that Department of Psychiatry
and De-addiction Centre of Excellence, KEM Hospital was the official academic
partner of the program. Rusan Pharma and Ariina Pharma supported the
activity. Santacruz Medical Social association and Vile Parle Medical
Club Public Health Trust also supported with their support in mustering registrations
and also by part hosting the sessions.
After all the workshop sessions, there was a written
evaluation of all the doctors and the workshop ended with Addiquiz – an
info-entertainment program. Those who satisfactorily attended the workshop were
given certificates.
The feedback given by the participating doctors speak all
about this novel and noble initiative-
“It was a wonderful experience. We learned a lot. We
appreciate the hard work which you have put in”
“Thanks to all of you for organizing such a fantastic series
of lectures. I am sure it has increased our knowledge about de-addiction.”
“We got an insight into a branch of medicine which is very
relevant in today's time.”
“Thanks to you for arranging this workshop & giving us
an opportunity to get aware of this increasing problem”
Overall, the program helped to equip 150 plus doctors learn
about an untouched but crucial topic of addiction in a detailed manner. And
this will go a long way to positively influence the addiction scenario in their
respective communities.
Doctors from many other areas such as Dombivali,
Thane, Nashik, Pune etc. have requested for a similar program in their
areas.
It was one of the most innovative and impactful initiative Rotary
Club of Bombay West has had in recent times!!!!!!
-
Dr. Bhavna Patel
