A day before the start of the three-day International Conference of the Indian Society of Neurosurgery, being organised by the Department of Neurosurgery, PGI, doctors said a lot of awareness is required even among doctors themselves to deal with the illnesses.

The conference would focus on various paediatric neurosurgery problems, including surgery for epilepsy and treatment of strokes, tumours in the brain and the spine, and hydrocephalus (a condition in which excess fluid builds up within the ventricles — fluid-containing cavities — of the brain and may increase pressure within the head). As many as 200 neurosurgeons and paediatricians would take part in the conference. Six international and several faculty members from leading institutes would also be participating.

Emphasising the need for special training of doctors, Prof Vivek Lal said, “As many as 95 per cent of the doctors themselves are ignorant of things like epilepsy surgery. There is a need to create awareness among the medical franternity also.”

Addressing mediapersons, Prof VK Khosla and Prof Ashis Pathak of the neurosurgery department highlighted the extreme shortage of neurosurgeons in the country, which is proving a bottleneck in effective treatment of patients. “There are merely 1,100 neurosurgeons in India. The number is certainly highly inadequate for such a huge population,” said Prof Khosla.