Work together to address issues related to TB: Director SKIMS

Srinagar, March 24: On the occasion of World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, the Department of General Medicine, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura, in collaboration with district TB centre (DTC) Srinagar organized World Tuberculosis (TB) Day 2025.The event aimed to raise awareness about the global burden of TB and highlight the latest advancements in its diagnosis and prevention. The inaugural session commenced with a Welcome Address by Prof. (Dr.) Sonauallah Shah, Head of the Department of General Medicine, SKIMS, who highlighted the theme of world TB day 2025.It was followed by the Associate Dean’s Address by Prof. (Dr.) G.M. Gulzar, HOD Gastroenterology who emphasized the importance of this event in raising awareness in public about the devasting health, social and economic consequences of Tuberculosis. The session concluded with the Director’s Address by Prof. (Dr.) Mohd Ashraf Ganie, Director SKIMS & EOSG. He warned future threat of interaction of non-communicable disease epidemic (NCD) with infection like TB. For eliminating TB, he highlighted the importance of research projects about the different aspects of tuberculosis. He also desired that 3 departments including Department of General Medicine Department of community Medicine, Department of Microbiology and infectious disease department needs to work together in order to address various issues related to TB. This event also featured brainstorming lecture sessions by the faculty members of SKIMS Soura who delivered insightful talks on various aspects of tuberculosis, including:   Dr. Nazia Mehfooz, Assistant Professor, Respiratory Medicine, Dr. Farhana Siraj, Associate Professor, Infectious Disease, Dr. Nargis Kour Bali, Associate Professor, Microbiology, Dr. Javid Ahmad, Additional Professor, Community Medicine. These sessions were chaired by various eminent faculty members of SKIMS.The event concluded with an Interactive Session and closing remarks by Prof. Ajaz Nabi Koul, HOD Infectious Disease. The interaction with postgraduates was difficult case based scenarios of varied presentations of tuberculosis being handled at SKIMS. Dr Ajaz emphasized the importance of teamwork between clinicians, laboratory consultant and imaging fraternity which gives fruitful dividends in the form of detection and management of tuberculosis at tertiary care centre like skims. In the end he thanked DTO Srinagar and Skims administration in helping us to organise this academic feast. The program was well attended by faculty members, residents, and medical professionals from SKIMS, reaffirming their commitment to eliminating tuberculosis and achieving the global target of ending TB by 2030.