EAU15: A Q&A with Prof. Chibber, President of the Urological Society of India
The Urology Beyond Europe sessions have traditionally started the Annual EAU Congress, and the 30th Anniversary Congress is no different in that regard. The UBE sessions are intended to foster collaboration between the EAU and Urological societies from across the globe, by having speakers from both organisations address topics of mutual interest, highlighting certain different approaches or case studies.
The Joint Session of the European Association of Urology and the Urological Society of India had a large variety of topics. Half of the speakers were invited by Prof. Percy Chibber, President of the Urological Society of India. Prof. Chibber himself discussed his thirty years’ (changing) experience with PCNL for staghorn calculi, Dr. Sanjay Sinha gave an Indian perspective of the neurogenic bladder, and Dr. Rajesh Ahlawat was scheduled to speak on the state of robotic kidney transplants. His detailed video of the procedure managed to keep the audience’s interest, in his regrettable absence due to airline issues.
We spoke to Prof. Chibber about the session:
Q: How did you experience the session?
A: It went very well! I would have like a larger attendance, perhaps a result of the many Urology Beyond Europe sessions taking place simultaneously. Perhaps there is a way to get more exposure for the participating countries and speakers.
Q: How was the programme devised?
A: The programme is not necessarily geared towards Indian topics: it gives an insight into similarities and differences between disease patterns and preferred treatment options between Europe and India. Generally, aside from marginal differences, there is no difference in how stones, neurological bladder issues, or robotic kidney transplants are performed. In fact, Dr. Ahlawat’s contributions are up there with the best! The EAU, co-chairman Prof. James Catto, provided the other speakers, which created a nice mix of topics.
Q: What are some topics that European Urologists may be able to learn from their Indian counterparts from, and vice-versa?
A: Speaking for my own area of expertise, stones, the number and diversity of cases in India cannot be found in Europe. In that regard, we have experience and knowledge that we can pass on to European urologists. Conversely, what we perhaps lack is good data management, and good primary, fundamental research, these are things we would like to address. Not on an institutional level, like we have at the moment, but on a national scale. In India, we also a very young population in contrast to the ageing population in Europe and the USA, so we can learn a lot about prostate cancer management in that sense.