It was a matter of great pride for Lady Hardinge Medical College when Dr Shubha Sagar Trivedi, Director Professor & Head, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, was entrusted with the mammoth task of organizing the 51st All India Congress of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at New Delhi from 1st -5th February 2008. She was assisted by Dr Chitra Raghunandan as Co-Chairperson and Dr Usha Gupta, Dr Manju Puri and Dr Sunita Malik as Organizing Secretaries for organizing this mega event. Dr Chitra R is a Director Professor and Dr Usha Gupta and Dr Manju Puri are both Professors in the Department of OBGYN at LHMC. Dr Chitra R and Dr Usha Gupta are Alumni of LHMC. Dr Abha Singh, Professor OBGYN at LHMC was the Treasurer. The Organizing Committee comprised of many more Hardonians.

The Congress was appreciated by one and all. The venue was Hotel Ashok. It was attended by a record number of delegates’ i.e 6873 from India and abroad. The Congress started on 1st February with 10 Precongress Live Workshops in various fields of OBGYN, organized at 10 different hospitals in Delhi and attended by over 2200 delegates from all over India and abroad. This was followed by Dr CG Saraiya CME on 2nd Feb 2008 at Hotel Ashok and was attended by 1832 delegates. In the afternoon on the same day 8 parallel workshops by various committees of FOGSI on important subjects like HIV, Safe Motherhood, Geriatric Gynaecology, MTP, Young talent promotion, Endoscopy and Family Welfare were conducted. In the evening of 2nd Feb 2008 a gala Inaugural function of the conference was held at the spacious, beautifully decorated front lawns of Hotel Ashok with their majestic ambience. The Chief Guest was the Honorable Chief Minister NCT of Delhi Smt Shiela Dikshit and Dr Dorothy Shaw, President of FIGO was the Guest of Honor. The function started with a melodious Saraswati Vandana by a group from Gandharva Mahavidyalya and was followed by colorful culturally rich programme “Sankriti” by Sangeet Natak Academy. The production was choreographed by Mrs. Madhavi Mudgal. The function was well attended by delegates, dignitaries from Governmental and Non Government agencies.

The main scientific proceedings were held on 3rd, 4th, & 5th Feb 2008.The scientific programme was meticulously planned by the scientific committee. Scientific proceedings were conducted in 17 halls simultaneously from 9am to 5.30 pm each day. The programme included deliberations on Gynae Endoscopy, Main Stream Gynae, Reproductive Medicine and Fertility Concerns, Gynae Oncology, Fetal and Perinatal Medicine, Emergency Obstetrics and Critical Care and High Risk Pregnancy. There were 132 scientific sessions in all which included Symposia, Panel Discussions, Video Sessions, Interactive Sessions, Quiz, Debates and Guest lectures by renowned National and International faculty.

A total of 40 invited international faculties from different parts of the world like USA, UK, South Africa, South East Asia, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Italy, France, China, Australia and Geneva (WHO) participated in the precongress workshops and the main conference. There were 575 invited national faculties from different parts of India, all experts in their field and contributed immensely to the scientific deliberations by sharing their vast knowledge and rich experience.

Three prestigious orations by stalwarts in OBGYN were delivered in the conference. Amadeus Shreya oration was delivered by Prof Kypros Nicolaides from UK on “The Art and Practice of Fetal Medicine” Dr Duru Shah, immediate past president of FOGSI delivered FOGSI oration on “The Power of One” and Dr Dorothy Shaw, president FIGO delivered Organon oration on “The Role of Contraception in Reducing Maternal Mortality”. Each oration was thought provoking and stimulating and left an indelible impression on the delegates.

A Public Forum on Female Foeticide was held on 3rd Feb 08 under the chairmanship of Dr Sharda Jain with live participation of various women’s organizations, NGOs, student communities, lawyers and prominent social personalities. It was a big hit.
The scientific proceedings, the souvenir and the abstract book were compiled by scientific committee and released by the Guest of Honor Dr Dorothy Shaw during the congress.

The mega trade exhibition was put up by the pharmaceutical companies for the delegates at the congress venue exhibiting the latest technological developments in the field of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and was inaugurated by the Director General Health Services Dr. R.K. Srivastava.

A record number of free papers were presented by enthusiastic delegates as posters and oral presentations during the conference. A total of 776 free papers and 105 posters were presented in 8 parallel sessions on all three days of the conference.
Finally the event ended on the evening of 5th February 2008 with the valedictory function. The excellent organization of AICOG 2008 was appreciated by all the office bearers of FOGSI. It was declared to be the biggest ever AICOG and the efforts of the organizing team under the chairmanship of Dr.S.S.Trivedi were acknowledged. Dr.S.S.Trivedi thanked everyone for their wholehearted support and untiring efforts to put together this event.

A post congress workshop on Urogynaecology was held on 6th Feb 08 at AIIMS. Organization of AICOG 2008 is a feather in the cap of Lady Hardinge Medical College and will be remembered for years to come.