Bariatric surgeon Dr B Ramana new director of IBC, Asia

The International Bariatric Club (IBC) has appointed the leading Indian bariatric surgeon Dr. B Ramana as the Director of IBC Asia. In his new role, Dr Ramana will have independent charge of Asia for IBC, the world’s fastest growing medical body of surgeons specialising in obesity and diabetes surgery. With more than 2,500 members, IBC is poised to become the world’s largest surgical society.

Dr. Ramana, senior bariatric surgeon of BMI, one of India’s most respected names in bariatric surgery, will be responsible for helping with training, teaching, mentoring and communicating with the Asian bariatric surgical community. IBC is planning to step up activities in academics in the rapidly expanding field of surgery for weight loss and diabetes control. Considering the fast increasing numbers of bariatric surgeries performed in India and other Asian countries, standardization of medical care for obese and diabetic patients has become very important. Standardization is fundamental to improving quality in healthcare. Bariatric surgery has now reached even smaller towns of India, with around 250 surgeons performing bariatric surgery across the country. “It might not be possible for busy surgeons to attend international conferences or workshops to hone their skills and to keep abreast with the latest developments in bariatric and metabolic surgery,” Dr Ramana said. “This might mean they could fall behind in the best international standards. IBC will help such surgeons in the Asian region to overcome this challenge by educating them at home through various initiatives and communication channels including use of social media,” he says.