P. Raghu Ram, president-elect of the Association of Surgeons of India, has been conferred the Honorary Fellowship of The Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS) of Thailand.

Well-known breast surgeon and Padma Shri awardee Raghu Ram received the honour from Professor Tanaphon Maipang, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Thailand, at the 44th annual congress of the Royal College in Pattaya.

Raghu Ram has been conferred the Honorary Fellowship in recognition of his bold vision coupled with an intense body of work that has paved the way for improving the delivery of breast healthcare in India. With this, Raghu Ram achieved the rare distinction of having been conferred FRCS from five Surgical Royal Colleges (London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ireland and Thailand) as well as FACS from the American College of Surgeons.

Over 2,000 delegates from all over Thailand and world-renowned surgeons from 20 countries are participating in the scientific congress. Delivering key-note address at the conference themed "ASEAN collaboration in value-based surgery", Raghu Ram outlined the South Asia's largest population-based breast cancer screening programme that he championed under the auspices of the Ushalakshmi Breast Cancer Foundation in partnership with the governments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Over 3,600 healthcare workers employed with the government were trained to perform clinical breast examination (CBE) -- a practical, pragmatic & cost-effective screening method. They reached out to 200,000 underprivileged women, spread across 4,000 villages in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, between 2012 and 2016.