Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Encouraged by the success of its pilot programme for training therapists and doctors in the treatment of lymphedema or lymphatic filariasi (also called elephantiasis/hathi pao in Hindi), the Society for Administration of Telemedicine and Healthcare Informatics (SATHI) plans to conduct more such programmes with a view to creating several lymphedema care centres across the country.
One of the doctors who underwent the programme was hugely pleased with the experience. For months, he said, “I have been searching for such specialised centres, but I haven’t been able to locate one in India. Over the course of three days, I gathered useful knowledge regarding lymphology.”
The programme was conducted in partnership with Sanwari Bai Surgical Centre, New Delhi, which is the only Centre of Excellence in the country recognised by the Lymphatic Education and Research Network (LE&RN). The husband-wife team of Dr SB Gogia and Arun Gogia, which is spearheading the non-profit SATHI, conducted the first-ever programme.
Dr Gogia informed Blitz India that Complex Decongestive Therapy (CDT) is the gold-standard treatment for lymphedema. It has an initiation and disease counselling phase done in a specialised care centre followed by lifelong home based self-care. Unfortunately, however, therapists especially trained for lymphedema care are few and far between. Hence the need for launching the training programme, he said.
Lymphoedema, for the uninitiated, is a chronic debilitating disease in which the affected limb, and occasionally other body parts, get swollen and ugly to look at. The swelling in lymphedema is due to accumulation of excess water in the limbs. The disease is largely neglected because the knowledge about it is not common, even among the medical community. To spread awareness about this tropical disease, LE&RN India, in partnership with SATHI, has been organising World Lymphedema Day on March 6 every year, since 2016. This year, the event was held at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, and Rotary Club District 3011 was among the organisers.
