Hon’ble Chief Minister K. Palaniswami inaugurated the 8th edition of the MCLD

27-Jan-2018

Thiru Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, inaugurated the 8th edition of the MCLD, which was attended by about 850 delegated from around the World

Gleneagles Global Health City hosts the 8thMaster Class in Liver Disease 2018, titled ‘Liver Disease & Transplantation – Care of the Critically Ill’

Girl who underwent liver transplant at 5 days of age meets her surgeon 20 years later in his hometown Chennai.

Chennai, January 27th, 2018: Gleneagles Global Health City, the largest facility of Gleneagles Global Hospitals, a Parkway Pantai enterprise, hosted the 8th edition of Master Class in Liver Disease (MCLD) 2018, titled ‘Liver Disease and Transplantation – Care of the Critically Ill’. The MCLD was conducted from 26th – 27th January'18 at ITC Grand Chola, Chennai. The MCLD conference witnessed a wide spread and enthusiastic participation from India and across the world that included about 800 specialist Liver surgeons, Hepatologists, Intensive care physicians and Liver Anaesthetists, and about 50 international and national faculty of high repute. Thiru Edappadi K. Palaniswami, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Tamil Nadu inaugurated the event. Among the respected dignitaries, also present were

• Dr. C. VijayaBaskar, Minister of Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, Tamil Nadu
• Dr. J. Radhakrishnan, IAS, Principal Secretary – Health and Family Welfare Department, Govt. of Tamil Nadu
• Dr. K. Ravindranath, Chairman, Gleneagles Global Hospitals
• Dr Tan See Leng, Group Chief Operating Officer, Parkway Pantai Limited
• Mr. Ramesh Krishnan, Chief Executive Officer, India Operations Division, Parkway Pantai Limited
• Dr Jagprag Singh Gujral, Group COO, Gleneagles Global Hospitals

Ms. Baebhen Schutkke, a young law student from UK, who underwent liver transplantation 20 years ago, was felicitated by the Hon’ble Chief Minister. Ms. Baebhen was transplanted when she was only 5 days old by Prof. Mohamed Rela, the world renowned liver transplant surgeon, who belongs to Tamil Nadu, and who at that time was at King's College, London. Prof. Rela also holds the Guinness book of world records for this feat, doing a liver transplantation on the youngest patient in the world.

The 'Master Class in Liver Disease' (MCLD) series was envisaged by Prof Mohamed Rela, Chairman & Director - Institute of Liver Disease & Transplantation, Gleneagles Global Health City, as a means to deliver high quality teaching in the field of liver disease and transplantation. Since its inception in 2011, the MCLD has established itself as one of the most popular scientific meetings in the Indian sub-continent. Each edition is planned as a single-theme conference with participation by national & international experts in the field of Adult & Paediatric Hepatology, Hepatobiliary surgery and Liver Transplantation. The scientific programme comprises of lectures, interactive panel discussions, workshops, video session and case discussions. MCLD is endorsed by several international societies like International Liver Transplant Society (ILTS) and The Liver Intensive Care Group of Europe (LICAGE).

World renowned liver experts such as Georg Auzinger (UK), Patricia Burra (ITALY), Anil Dhawan (UK), Robert Gish (USA), Nigel Heaton (UK), Rajiv Jalan (UK), Wayel Jassem (UK), Patrick Kamath (USA), John Lake (USA), Kwang-Woong Lee (SOUTH KOREA), Jan Lerut (BELGIUM), Greogory McKenna (USA), Asif Abbas Naqvi (UK), John O’Grady (UK), Elizabeth Pomfret (USA), Manuel Rodriguez-Davalos (USA), Roshni Vara (UK), Anita Verma (UK), Gebhard Wagener (USA), Julia Wendon (UK) and Roger Williams(UK) contributed to make this event successful.

Prof Mohamed Rela said “Each year we have tried to adopt a theme that would be relevant to all specialities involved in the care of patients with liver disease. With the rapid increase of interest in liver disease and transplantation, it is quite interesting to get an update once a year from leaders in the field world over.”

“I am very pleased to have been invited to such a prestigious event. Events such as these reiterate the fact that Tamil Nadu is a pioneer when it comes to transplantation”, said Thiru Edappadi K. Palaniswami. “Ms. Baebhen stands as a testimony that patients who undergo liver transplantation can have a normal and fruitful life and can pursue their dreams. Ms. Baebhen’s presence at the meeting was a reassurance to all the patients who have undergone a liver transplant and also to those who await transplantation.” Added The Hon’ble Chief Minister.

Prof. Roger Williams, who is considered the doyen of liver transplantation and is credited with starting the liver transplant programme at King's College, London, enlightened and enthralled the audience at the MCLD with his experiences during the evolution of transplantation in his talk titled "The Story of my Life".

As part of the event, National Foundation for Liver Disease (NFLR), a trust which promotes organ donation and research in liver disease organised a dinner on 26thJanuary to celebrate "The success of Liver transplantation”.

Dr Tan See Leng, Group Chief Operating Officer, Parkway Pantai Limited, said "Indian hospitals run one of the most extensive and successful liver transplant programs in the world. Events like MCLD expose doctors to the latest developments in this field and provide opportunities for them to share and interact with some of the best medical minds in the world. This not only raises the standards of care at our hospitals but also leads to superior clinical outcomes and better quality of life for our patients."

Mr. Ramesh Krishnan, Chief Executive Officer, India Operations Division, Parkway Pantai Limited,said “It is a matter of great pride for us at Parkway to support the world-class program in MCLD under its stewardship of Professor Mohammed Rela. Through this platform, we reconfirm our commitment to leverage on such high-quality academic initiatives in our endeavor to bring its latest in quantity treatment for our patients.”

Dr K Ravindranath, Chairman of Gleneagles Global Hospitals said “Running India’s most successful multi organ transplant program over the years, demonstrates our commitment to take on cutting edge clinical work and academics with equal importance. I am so happy with MCLD’s journey to its 8th edition and the support it has received across India and from abroad over the years”.