Greetings to all members,
The importance of Respiratory medicine as a separate subspecialty has only been perceived recently in Nepal. The need for a common forum with experts working in the field of Respiratory, Critical care and Sleep medicine was felt for long. With the rising prevalence of respiratory diseases and advances in diagnostic and therapeutic modalities, we need to be updated on recent developments in the field. It was essential to have a formal organization conducting regular CMEs, conferences and workshops for sharing of knowledge and skills. With this vision, Nepalese Respiratory Society (NRS) was established on 27th July 2019 as a self governing, non-political, non-profit, professional and scientific organization. The founder members were eminent respiratory physicians, critical care physicians and sleep experts practicing in the country.
Since its inception, NRS has committed itself to conduct regular scientific events for regular interaction among its members. The first CME was conducted on “Updates in National TB Management Guidelines” with active participation by the stakeholders of Government of Nepal, National Tuberculosis Program. The recommendations of the meet were endorsed and incorporated in the NTP Guidelines. Similarly, CMEs were also conducted on “Updates in Sleep Medicine” and “Updates in management of COPD”. NRS also wishes to extend these scientific events outside the valley. It has so far conducted CMEs in Janakpur and Biratnagar and is planning to have more events in other cities in the future.
In collaboration with Eurasian Respiratory and Allergy Consortium, “South Asian Respiratory Summit” was organized by NRS on 22nd February 2020 at Hotel Annapurna, Kathmandu. This one day event had faculties and participants from Nepal, India and Turkey and was a grand success with more than 200 attendees. NRS also co-organized the “World COPD Day - 2019” event in collaboration with EDCD, Government of Nepal. NRS has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the European Respiratory Society (ERS) for future collaboration in conducting ERS certified courses in Nepal and registration of NRS members in the ERS and their events.
The current COVID-19 pandemic has caused a paradigm change in our lives, profession and workplace. During this pandemic, NRS has provided technical assistance at different forums on preparing COVID Management Guidelines, Healthcare Workers Safety Protocols, ICU Management protocols etc. At the same time we have continued our scientific activities in the form of webinars. The first webinar was conducted on “Updates in management of COVID-19” which was attended by more than 500 participants. Similarly we have also conducted webinars on Management of Bronchial Asthma and Infection prevention and control in the ICU recently.
NRS wishes to contribute to develop the field of Respiratory, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine in Nepal with active participation and valuable suggestions from its members.
Thank You.