Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecologcal Societies of India (FOGSI) has renewed its pledge of its members to make women’s health better with continuity and fresh ideas as it launched the 62nd All India Congress of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (AICOG) at Bengaluru.

Dr Jaideep Malhotra, president of FOGSI 2018, Dr Nanditha Palshetkar, president of FOGSI 2019, Dr Jaydeep Tank, secretary general of FOGSI, Dr Hema Divakar, organizing chairperson of AICOG 2019 were among thousands of delegates drawn from all over the country who are taking part in the event.

Dr Hema said the conference covered not only lifestyle issues of women but also other questions regarding women’s health in her all stages of life. “More than 250 scientific sessions, 12 workshops, several keynote speakers have been lined up in the two-day conference will help equip participating members with latest technological advancements in our field.

The tag line this year is ‘Women's Health Nation's Wealth’. Women's health is not just about care during pregnancy, FOGSI is focusing on care across entire spectrum of womanhood, holistically,” she said. Dr Malhotra said FOGSI was working for better health as it is the holistic way of looking at a woman as a mother. ‘‘HER for us is Health, empowerment and Respect for women.’’

“We cannot take nation forward without taking women forward. This year we have worked on making doctor-patient relationship very healthy. FOGSI has taken up training of medical professional under Manyata and also formulated guidelines for doctors,” Dr Malhotra added.

Dr Jaydeep said FOGSI’s primary role and as well its recent initiatives focussed on its lobby lobbied on Oxytocin availability. FOGSI has been sensitive to many contemporary issues and will continue to take up these issues. “FOGSI is a custodian of women's health and our theme ‘We for Stree’ will look at the entire spectrum of womanhood and the conference will deliberate on forward,” declared incoming president FOGSI Dr Nanditha Palshetkar.

“FOGSI’s efforts have contributed significantly in raising awareness. The MMR rate has come down from 254 to 130 per year in 10 years and FOGSI has an important role to play in this. There is a need to educate women about various aspects like contraceptives, high risk pregnancies and abortions with focused programmes,” said Dr Nanditha setting her agenda. There is also a need to skill women and increase their contribution in global healthcare sector. Many times, the work of women also goes unrecognized, the FOGSI president for 2019 said.