Kathmandu, May 27: The second SAARC ENT (ear, nose throat) conference which had begun with the slogan “ENT service at the doorstep of the people” concluded here today.

Some 500 experts from the SAARC countries and 100 more from Britain, Usa, France, Sweden, Belgium, Israel, Hong Kong, Holland, United Arab Emirates, Italy, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Spain and Turkey participated in the four-day conference organised by the society of otolaryngologists of Nepal.

About 150 scientific working papers were presented at the conference while some 50 national and international experts in the field gave talks.

According to Dr. Hari Bhattarai, general secretary of the organising committee, a very complex surgery of the ear and nose using endoscope technology was carried out during the conference. This surgery has been considered as a model of high technology by doctors from SAARC countries.

The conference organised with an objective of exchanging views among the participants and informing about new technology was successful in achieving its target and is expected to make a positive contribution to treatment of ear, nose and throat diseases in Nepal.

Some 21 pharmaceutical companies from the SAARC region exhibited their products and machinery during the conference which also decided to request the respective government to put a ban on advertisement of tobacco products in all types of communication media and make effort to make ent services easily available.

It was also decided at the conference to hold the third SAARC ENT conference in Pakistan.

Deafness is the said to be the highest number of disabledness in Nepal. A nationwide survey conducted in 1991 showed that about 2.7 million people in Nepal suffer from deafness.

Consumption of tobacco products causes cancer of the tongue, mouth and throat and the higher number of cancer cases is said to be in SAARC countries India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Nepal has only 37 ENT specialists and ent medical services is not easily available in various parts of the country due to lack of necessary equipment.

The ratio of ENT specialists in Nepal is one for about 600,000 people while outside the valley the ratio is one for 2,500,000.