NCDIR EVENTS

Online meeting of the Scientific Advisory Committee was held on 1 December 2021 at ICMR-NCDIR, Bengaluru under the chairmanship of Dr. GK Rath. The completed, ongoing and new projects and activities of the Institute were presented. Dr. Balram Bhargava, Director General ICMR also addressed the meeting. Members offered valuable suggestions and guidance for Various programs to be pursued in the next year.

A formal farewell function was organized to bid farewell to Mrs. J Amudhini, Social Worker who has taken Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) and was relieved on 30th November 2021 from NCDIR, Bengaluru. She had served in 2 Field Units and 2 Institutes of ICMR in her career with a total of 36 years and 9 months.

The Communal Harmony Campaign week was observed at ICMR-NCDIR between 19th to 25th of November 2021. NCDIR organised events of Painting and Rangoli on this theme for the employees and there was active participation. Director, NCDIR enlightened the employees regarding the importance of communal harmony in the country and distributed the prizes to winners.

On the occasion of World Diabetes Day on 14th November 2021, the ICMR Complex, Nirmal Bhawan, Bengaluru was illuminated with lights to highlight the importance and spread the awareness regarding diabetes, its prevention and early detection of diabetes for better patient outcomes.

The first report titled, "Stroke Incidence and Mortality: A report of the Population Based Stroke Registries, India was released by Prof. Satishchandra, Chairperson, Research Area Panel-Stroke on 10th November, 2021. The members of Scientific Advisory Committee, Research Area Panel, Directors, Heads and Scientists of ICMR Headquarters and Institutions, Investigators of the Population and Hospital Based Stroke Registries and the NCDIR staff joined the event.

ICMR-NCDIR observed Rashtriya Ekta Diwas from 24th-31st October,2021. At the onset, the highlights of few of the Indian states were virtually displayed at ICMR-NCDIR from 24th – 29th October,2021. Integrity pledge was taken by all the ICMR-NCDIR staff, to embark the spirit of unity among the staff. The pledge was read in both English and Hindi. Director, Dr. Prashant Mathur addressed the staff and shed light upon the importance of the integrity, national unity, secularism and equality.

NCDIR successfully completed the first Round of Cancer Epidemiology and Surveillance training (CanEST) Programme on 28th October 2021. The course was inaugurated on 22nd by Prof. Balram Bhargava, Secretary DHR & Director General, ICMR virtually with participation of other dignitaries. This was a seven-day training of Research Scientists working in the Population Based Cancer Registries. The Scientists were trained on basic concepts of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Cancer Epidemiology and Surveillance, Development of Action plan and dissemination. Course Certificates have been handed over to the participants.

The following two reports of ICMR – NCDIR were released virtually on 24th September 2021, on the occasion of World Cancer Research Day.
1. Clinicopathological Profile of Cancers in India: A Report of the Hospital Based Cancer Registries, 2021’ by Chief Guest; Dr Balram Bhargava, Secretary DHR and Director General ICMR.
2. ‘Profile of cancer and related factors-State wise Factsheets’ by Guest of Honour, Dr G.K.Rath, Head, National Cancer Institute, Jhajjar and. Chief, DRBRAIRCH, AIIMS, New Delhi.
TThe members of SAC, RAP Cancer, IEC members, Directors, Heads and Scientists of ICMR Headquarters and Institutions, Investigators of the Population and Hospital Based Registries, other registries and the NCDIR staff joined the event.

Fit India Freedom Run 2.0 was organised on 19th September 2021 at ICMR-NCDIR in accordance with the guidelines of ICMR, New Delhi and Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, GOI. Staff of ICMR-NCDIR participated in the 3 kms run with great enthusiasm.

ICMR-NCDIR, Bengaluru had organised a public webinar on the topic ‘Lifestyle and Noncommunicable diseases’ on 26th August 2021 to commemorate 75 years of Independence celebrations - Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, an occasion to engage with citizens. Eminent speakers explained the current burden of NCD risk factors in India. Importance of dietary habits and physical activity in reducing onset of diabetes was highlighted through examples. Ill effects of alcohol and tobacco usage, prevention strategies and principles for management for deaddiction were presented. Experience of working with communities in cancer screening, understanding the needs of cancer patients and survivors was shared. The webinar ended with a clear message that NCDs can be curbed through a holistic approach to address lifestyle risk factors. Around 200 attendees (general public, students and medical doctors) benefitted by this webinar. The webinar was also live streamed on YouTube.

In the context of 75th Independence Day celebration (Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav), ICMR Bioethics Unit, ICMR-NCDIR had organised a public webinar on Ethics, Compassion, Dignity in End of Life Care & Death on 24th Aug 2021. The webinar was intended for public participant involved or interested in caregiving of patients on life sustaining treatment. Eminent speakers talked about provision of home-based care for people who are terminally ill, ethical issues that may arise while their loved ones are in the death bed requiring life support technologies, caregiver’s role in decision-making for assuring compassion and dignity to the ailing relatives, and about the ICMR’s initiatives in End of Life Care & Death. The webinar was also live streamed on YouTube. About 150 attendees benefitted by participating in this webinar.

75th Independence Day was celebrated with vigour and enthusiasm at ICMR Complex, Bengaluru involving all three institutions of ICMR – NCDIR, NIMR and ROHC with the theme of Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav. In view of the ongoing COVID -19 situation the basic COVID-19 preventive measures like social distancing, wearing of mask, proper sanitization, avoiding large congregation were followed.

Sensitization programme was conducted through in-person and virtual attendance for all staff on 13 August 2021 at ICMR – NCDIR, Bengaluru by the external member of the Internal Committee at ICMR-NCDIR. Sensitization on the topic was conducted in a separate in-person session in local language for the housekeeping, security and the garden maintenance staff.

Dr. Priya Abraham visited NCDIR on 6 July 2021. She inspired the technical and scientific staff by sharing the experience of ICMR – NIV in the efforts to tackle the crisis of COVID-19 in India. She explained that ICMR – NIV was involved in 1) Training and setting up of laboratories for RTPCR test 2) Validation of test kits 3) Process of culture, isolation of SARS-CoV-2; 5) Preclinical trials for vaccine development 6) Vaccine development 7) Testing of antiviral properties of different drugs and materials and 8) Quality control. She shared that under the guidance of DG, ICMR and ICMR Hqs. ICMR – NIV worked with commitment, zeal and dedicated team work to fulfil all the activities in a mission mode.
Director NCDIR and NCDIR team congratulated Director, ICMR-NIV and her team at NIV for their stupendous efforts during COVID-19 pandemic.

A virtual orientation programme on ‘Hospital Based study on profile of Cardiovascular Diseases and Heart failure Registry in North-East region of India’ was organized on 01 July 2021 for the registered centres from Northeast India. Investigators of 5 medical colleges from Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Meghalaya participated and had an interactive discussion on implementation of the project. The need for the study, objectives, data abstraction and transmission were discussed.

A half day online training program was organized on 30th June 2021 by ICMR-National Institute of Implementation Research on Non-Communicable Diseases (ICMR-NIIRNCD), Jodhpur, (Raj.) in association with ICMR Bioethics Unit, National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (ICMR- NCDIR), Bengaluru. Eminent speakers shared their knowledge and perspectives on ethical conduct of research across various sessions with special emphasis on topics such as Roles and Responsibilities of Ethics Committee Members, ICMR National Ethical Guidelines, Registration of ECs, New Drugs and Clinical Trial Rules 2019, Vulnerability and Consent. Around 100 delegates (Ethics Committee members, Faculty, Scientists, Researchers, etc.) from various institutions in and around Rajasthan participated and benefitted from the training.

Sensitisation workshop for the newly started Hospital Based Cancer Registries (HBCRs) was conducted on 29th June 2021 through video conferencing. About 49 participants from 15 HBCRs participated and had an interactive discussion related to the cancer registry. The importance of cancer registry, data abstraction from medical records, coding according to ICD-O-3 and ICD10 were discussed with hands on exercises and demonstration of the HBCRDM software. The workshop emphasized on coverage, completeness, co-operation from other departments of their hospital and quality of the data.

The ‘Report on Sites of Cancer Associated with Tobacco Use in India - Findings from the National Cancer Registry Programme’ was released by Dr. Balram Bhargava, Secretary DHR and Director General, ICMR on 31 May 2021 on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day. Prof. GK Rath, Head, Natinal Cancer Institute, Jhajjar and Chief, Dr BRA Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, AIIMS, New Delhi was the Guest of Honour. Dr PC Gupta, Director, Healis Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health, Mumbai and Dr. RS Dhaliwal, Head, NCD Division, ICMR Hqs were the special invitees.

Condolences were expressed by Dr Prashant Mathur, Director, NCDIR to the recently departed souls, Dr. NS Murthy and Mr. P. Gangadharan who had been closely associated with ICMR-NCDIR and contributed immensely.

The ‘World No Tobacco Day’ was observed at NCDIR, Bengaluru on 31 May 2021. Dr. Shakuntala T.S. the nodal officer administered the pledge on behalf of the Director, NCDIR to all the staff of NCDIR who joined the event through zoom and took the pledge in view of the ongoing COVID – 19 pandemic. Dr. Prashant Mathur Director, NCDIR emphasized the theme of WHO ‘Quit tobacco to be a winner’ and declared the campus of ICMR – NCDIR as tobacco free zone.

ICMR- NCDIR, Bengaluru organised a webinar ‘Reducing health inequalities in NCDs- Towards a healthier nation’ based on the World Health Day theme “Building a fairer, healthier world”. The webinar aimed to educate the public and health professionals about the stark disparities within communities that impact health outcomes. Public Health experts Dr Rajani Ved, and Dr Yogesh Jain, explained the impact of inequities on NCDs and the framework of health system response to reduce inequities. Dr Vipul Aggarwal, Dy CEO, National Health Authority shared on the role of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jana Arogya Yojana. The Question & Answer session discussed the challenges and opportunities to reduce health inequities for prevention and control of Non-communicable diseases in India.

An online training program was organized on 16th March 2021 by ICMR Bioethics Unit, National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR), Bengaluru which is also a WHO Collaborating Centre for Strengthening Ethics in Biomedical and Health Research to train the Ethics Committees members in their roles & responsibilities. Participants were from across the country as well as from several neighbouring countries. An eminent panel of experts representing a multidisciplinary ethics committee shared their perspectives. The training was also live streamed on You Tube. Almost 700 participants benefitted from this training.Nepal Health Research Council members joined the training from Kathmandu, Nepal

A public webinar was conducted on 10th March 2021 to observe the 'World Salt Awareness Week', from 8 to 14 March 2021. The webinar's purpose was to educate the public and remind health professionals about the health effects of excess salt consumption, dietary interventions for low salt intake, substitutes for high sodium food items and the role of the Food Safety and Standard Authority of India (FSSAI) in the regulation of salt intake in India. The webinar hosted eminent resource persons and provided an opportunity for interaction with the audience of about 180 persons.

International Women’s day was celebrated at ICMR-NCDIR with enthusiasm. Various events like display of video clip with women employees of ICMR-NCDIR, addressing of NCDIR women staff by guest speaker (women corona warrior), movie on unsung women achievers, cultural activities, game followed by the prize distribution by Director. In recognition of the women employees of ICMR-NCDIR, a board with photographs of women employees was displayed. Women employees were given a token gift as a remembrance of women's day. All COVID precautions were followed during the event.

A webinar on Gall bladder cancer awareness was organised by ICMR-NCDIR on 26th February 2021 to create awareness regarding the occurrence of gall bladder cancers, detection, management and prevention. The sessions were conducted by eminent experts in the field. The webinar had good participation of around 82 attendees from all over the country.

A virtual webinar on Cervical cancer awareness was organised by ICMR-NCDIR on 30th January 2021 culminating the cervical cancer awareness month. This webinar aimed to create awareness by recognizing the symptoms early and touched upon cervical cancer care. Strategies towards prevention and screening of cervical cancer were discussed in the webinar. The presentations were followed up by interactive sessions with the audience.

The Report of ‘Profile of cancer and related health indicators in the North East Region of India’ was released online on 4th February 2021 by Prof. Balram Bhargava, Secretary DHR and DG, ICMR, to mark World Cancer day, decadal year of NCDIR and forty years of NCRP. Prof. G K Rath, Head, National Cancer Institute, Jhajjar and the chairperson of the Scientific Advisory Committee of NCDIR addressed the audience. The virtual invitees included registry investigators and state NCD officials of North East States, members of Scientific Advisory Committee, Research Area Panel on cancer, Directors of ICMR Institutes, Division Heads and Scientists.

72nd Republic Day was celebrated with enthusiasm at NCDIR. In this context Director remembered about the role played by the ICMR, doctors, health workers etc. during the pandemic COVID-19. He said that if all the citizens do their work with dedication and responsibility, it will be contributing to the growth of the nation.

Hon’ble Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India, Dr Harsh Vardhan launched the Decadal year celebrations of ICMR-NCDIR. The Report of “National Noncommunicable Disease Monitoring Survey 2017-18” and the e book on “Framework for Telemedicine use in Management of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases, and Stroke” were released by the Hon’ble Minister. Secretary DHR and DG, ICMR Dr. Balram Bhargava, addressed the audience. Meeting was virtually attended by Heads of Divisions of ICMR, Directors of ICMR Institutions, members of the various advisory committees, experts, members of the contributing centres of NNMS and ICMR NCDIR staff.

New year Day of the year 2021 was celebrated at NCDIR, Bengaluru with vigour and enthusiasm. This year is special for NCDIR as it is entering decadal year of its existence as an ICMR institute.