RCP MEETS IN INDIA TO DISCUSS HEALTHCARE, HIV/AIDS TREATMENTS

The Royal College of Physicians (RCP), a 21,000-member, multinational professional organization based in London, recently convened in Thiruvananthapuram, India, to discuss the region's heathcare system and the availability of medicine for poorer citizens. The conference, which is aimed at fostering a dialogue between the RCP and health entities in South Asia, also focused on developing treatments for anemia, kidney disease, and diabetes, all of which have been emerging as epidemics over the past several years.

Carol Black, president of the RCP, specifically called for strengthening the healthcare system in India, where low birth-weight, child malnutrition, and growing rates of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS have become major health concerns. In addition to developing new vaccines and treatments, Black noted, prevention education and physician training is also of the utmost importance; at present, many of the country's rural areas have little to no access to standard medications and healthcare services.

Research and collaboration in the field of HIV/AIDS, noted Black, is also particularly critical — India currently has the second-largest number of HIV/AIDS-infected people in the world.