4th Annual National Conference of Addiction Psychiatry Society of India held

Srinagar, Oct 19: 4th Annual National Conference of Addiction Psychiatry Society of India (ADDICON 2024) was organised by the Department of Psychiatry (Advanced centre for Mental Health and Addiction Medicine) at SKIMS Medical College Bemina.

The organisers in a statement said the conference was aimed at addressing the increasing prevalence of drug addiction-related problems in our society. The theme of this year’s conference, “Nature to Nurture: preventing Relapse and maintaining Recovery,” is highly relevant, as many patients struggling with addiction face difficulties in maintaining adherence to treatment. Factors such as individual behaviour, lack of social or family support, clinical challenges related to the illness and treatment, and barriers within the health system contribute to non-adherence, ultimately worsening the burden of addiction in our society.

The experts which included distinguished and eminent speakers from across India and abroad shared their expertise and insights, enriching the academic program. The valuable contributions from participating delegates, addressing the various aspects of substance use, helped explore solutions to improve treatment compliance and enhance the successful management of addiction disorders.

An invited symposium was organised in which experts Dinesh Bodh, Narcotics Control Commissioner Govt of India, Dr Lotika Khajuria, State Drug Controller J&K and Prof Atul Ambekar regarding regulation psychotropics in India and how the challenges could be tackled to facilitate mental health professionals for smooth running of services in the netter interest of patient care.

The Inauguration ceremony was presided over by Prof Mohd Ashraf Ganie, Director SKIMS Soura & Ex- Officio Secretary to the Govt of J&K with Prof Iffat Hassan Shah, Principal / Dean Govt Medical College Srinagar as Guest of honour. Dr P K Dalal, Dr Shariq Rasheed Masoodi, Dr Aijaz Ahmad Rather, Registrar SKIMS Medical College graced the occasion as special guests, Dr Atul Ambekar, Prof of Psychiatry (Secretary General of APSI), Prof Mohammad Maqbool, HOD Psychiatry, IMHANS and Dr. Abdul Majid, Prof &HOD psychiatry SKIMS Medical College Bemina also spoke on the occasion.

The speakers emphasised on the need for research in the area and collaboration by different stake holders like Health, Education, law enforcement agencies, NGO’s, social work, youth service and sports, religious organisations for tackling this condition.

The inauguration was followed by panel discussion where experts from different fields of the likes of Lateef U Zamaan Deva, IAS, former Chairman PSC, Dr Seema Naz, Director College of Education, Dr Yasir Hassan Rather, professor of Psychiatry, Dr Tahir Magray, Revenue attorney from divisional administration and Mohammad Shafi, Additional SP police crime branch.

During this conference delegates from across the country and abroad presented their research work upon this complex issue in the form of Symposia, Invited lectures, workshops and free papers.

Faculty from reputed institutions like NIMHANS Bangalore, PGI Chandigarh, AIIMS New Delhi deliberated upon various aspects of addiction related disorders which would help in better understanding of this problem hence prove beneficial for the patients, family and society at large for safeguarding the interests of our future generations.

The faculty included Prof Debashish Basu, HOD Psychiatry, PGI chandigarh, Prof P K dalal, Professor & former HOD KGMU lucknow, Prof Sandeep Grover (PGIMER), Prof Abdul Majid HOD Psychiatry from SKIMS Srinagar, Dr Arun Kandasamy, Prof & HOD, centre for Addiction Medicine, NIMHANS Bangalore, Prof. Ravindra Rao, Prof Siddarth Sarkar, Prof Koushik Sinha Deb, Dr Alok Aggrawal, Dr Roshan Bhad, from AIIMS Delhi Dr Shalini Singh from PGI Chandigarh and Dr Raghav Shah from SMS Jaipur who deliberated on various aspects aimed at preventing relapse and maintaining recovery.

In addition, a national ADDICON quiz final round was conducted where in the 6 qualified teams from preliminary rounds were AIIMS New Delhi, GMCH Chandigarh, J J Hospital Mumbai and SKIMS Medical College Srinagar. The first second and 3rd position was subsequently bagged by jointly by AIIMS- SKIMS team , AIIMS New Delhi, and GMCH teams respectively.

The conference concluded with recommendations for augmenting the efforts for prevention, early detection, intervention, relapse prevention and maintenance of recovery in patients with Drug Addiction related problems which is only possible for coordination by various stakeholders in addressing this complex issues.

Organising team comprising of Dr Mohammad Maqbool, Dr Abdul Majid, Dr Nizam ud din, Dr Junaid Nabi, Dr Aijaz Suhaff, Dr Himayun, Dr Farhana Rafiq, Dr Gulzar Ahmad, Dr Ajmal Anjum, Dr Abrar, Dr Sajid, Dr Shagun Saini, Dr Insha, Dr Rouf, Dr Vikas, Dr Masood, Dr Nowfeena, Dr Gaurav and Dr Firdous were complimented by one and all for organising the event meticulously.

Organising Committee thanked all office bearers and EC Members of APSI, faculty and delegates for giving them opportunity to host them and making the event a grand success.