40th Annual Convention of AAPI in America to make every Indian proud

 The goal is to provide equal health care opportunities to the people of both countries.
   - Says AAPI President Dr. Anupama Gotimukula 

Hyderabad: June 15:

President Dr. Anupama Gotimukula said in a statement that the 40th Annual Convention of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin will be held in San Antonio, Texas from June 23 to 26 in a way that every Indian should be proud of.

Those who went to America after studying medicine in India back in the early days for higher studies and research were subjected to various types of discrimination. She said that AAPI (American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin) was formed in the 1980s by a group of physicians to overcome the above and to live with dignity in the United States. Today, it stands as the backbone for millions of physicians in the United States. She also said that under her presidency, AAPI will bring pressure on the respective governments to provide better medical care to the people of India as well as America while working on their usual service programs.

Further, she said that 45 Monthly Virtual Webinars and CME programs were organized with the help of the Chicago Medical Society and Dr. Vemuri Murthy, Dr. Amit Chakrabarty, and Dr. Sagar Galwankar. She added that Financial Educational Sessions were held for the benefit of the members and likewise, they discussed with the help of Dr. Sunitha Kumari and her team equal opportunities and inequalities related to public health. She further said as part of legislative webinars AAPI with the help of Dr. Sumul Raval and Dr. Suresh Reddy spoke with the US lawmakers about the medicare payment cuts primarily faced by the American physicians currently besides immigration issues among mainly the green card blockage. Likewise, she said that as part of Women’s Activities, a webinar was successfully conducted with the help of Dr. Seema Arora on the topics such as Domestic Violence Awareness, and Women’s Health and Wellbeing, besides successfully bringing out the Scientific Journal of AAPI under the aegis of Dr. Bellamkonda and some other Editorial team members.

AAPI Service Programs

Anupama Gotimukula said that at the time of the spread of Omicron, and Delta viruses during the Covid Pandemic AAPI with its limited resources and the partnership of Local Chapters and Red Cross Societies conducted Blood Donation Camps and helped thousands of sufferers. As part of the “ Adopt A Village” program in India, AAPI conducted diagnostic tests free of cost in 29 villages and created awareness among the sufferers and helped in accessing proper medical facilities within reach, and added that medical camps will have to be conducted in 25 more Villages.

She said that in India, AAPi donated 75,000 US Dollars to the Free for Life project under the Fight for Human Trafficking Program, as well as provided free cervical cancer vaccines to one hundred eligible women for cervical cancer prevention, the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women in India. She said that as part of the Breast Cancer Awareness Program, free mammograms have been conducted in South Chicago.

She added that AAPI is going to announce at the St. Antonio Convention its proposed help through the H2H Foundation for which the legendary cricketer Padma Sri Sunil Gavaskar is the Chairman in the conduct of free surgeries to the poor children suffering from congenital heart diseases in India. In the context of Covid-19, she said that they have organized several service programs in the countries of India and America, and of them, they have primarily provided biochemical analyzers, ventilators, pulse oximeters, as well as oxygen plants.

 She said that they are hosting the prestigious Annual Convention of AAPI (American Association of Physicians of Indian origin) in the city of San Antonio. She disclosed that at this convention they are going to bring pressure to bear upon the Indian Government to conduct every year cancer screening tests mandatorily for men and women over 50 years of age as part of Preventive Healthcare in India besides pushing for the promotion of disciplines such as Emergency Medicine, Geriatrics and others in all medical colleges.

, She said that under the leadership of Convention Chair Dr. Jayesh Shah, and CEO Venky Adivi all the departments are working hard to make the conference a success by working to their full potential. Co-chairs Dr. Rajiv Suri, Dr. Kiran Cheruku, Dr. Hetal Nayak, Dr. Shankar Sanka, Adviser Vijay Koli, Dr. Rajam Ramamurthy, Treasurer Dr. Aruna Venkatesh, Chief Operating Officers Ram Joolukuntla and Reddy Yeluru are working tirelessly for the success of the Convention.

 Dr. Anupama said that some eminent personalities who are experts in various fields will be honored at the Convention. She disclosed that among the recipients are Dr Soujanya Mohan, Chief Medical Officer, Texas Group, Prime Healthcare CEO Dr. Prem Kumar Reddy, cricket legend Dr. Sunil Gavaskar, eminent scientist Peter Jay Hotez, American Medical Association elect president Dr. Jack Resneck, National Drug Control Policy Director Dr. Rahul Gupta, and Ashtanga Yoga Param Guru R. Sharat Jois, Sadhvi Saraswathi Bhagavathi.