Another rare honour for breast cancer surgeon Raghu Ram

Hyderabad, Oct 27 (IANS) Eminent breast cancer surgeon Dr Raghu Ram on Wednesday achieved the rare distinction to become the first surgeon from South Asia to deliver the distinguished lecture of the US Chapter of International Society of Surgery.

The director of Hyderabad-based KIMS-Ushalakshmi Centre for Breast Diseases delivered the prestigious "Named Lecture" on "Disrupting breast healthcare in India" at the 107th Annual Congress of the American College of Surgeons (ACS).

He was the only surgeon from outside the US to be handpicked alongside Dr Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to the US PresidentS, and nine other world renowned surgeons from the US to deliver the prestigious lecture at the annual scientific Congress this year, held on a virtual platform from October 23 to 27, with the theme "Resilience in the Pursuit of Excellence".

Delivering the keynote address, Raghu Ram shared the revolutionary changes to breast healthcare that he was instrumental in bringing about in India.

His presentation brought to focus resilience in the face of enormous challenges and the relentless pursuit of excellence to improve breast cancer care in India through a number of unique and innovative initiatives.

Having relocated to India when his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, over the past 14 years, he emphasized that he has been serving as 'living bridge' between the UK and India and striven to replicate the best of British practices in an earnest endeavor to improve the delivery of breast health care in a country that he was born and raised.

He expressed hope that in the fullness of time, the disruptive, innovative, and unique strategies coupled with a vision to find 'Indian Solutions' that he outlined in the keynote address, would pave the path towards saving many lives, in addition to serving as a benchmark for improving the delivery of breast health care in South Asia.

As someone whose "heart beats for early detection of breast cancer", Raghu Ram said his inspiration can be summed up by a passage from a speech given by former Indian President Abdul Kalam: "Ask what we can do for India and do what has to be done to make India what America and other Western countries are today."

Founded in 1913, the American College of Surgeons is the largest organisation of surgeons in the world. With over 84,000 members from the US and 140 countries worldwide, ACS is the single strongest voice for surgeons across all surgical specialties across the globe.

In addition to featuring hundreds of scientific presentations highlighting research in progress in all surgical specialties and 105 panel discussions on relevant and timely topics, the 107th annual 2021 ACS Congress offers 11 Named Lectures on a variety of surgical and medical topics given by world-renowned experts.