History

OUR ASSOCIATION (1947-2009)
Dr. D.P. Jayaram, B.Sc. MBBS, M.Sc(Med) Penna*

In our country, hospitals and medical college have been in existence for over 200 years.  But a separate department for the treatment of skin diseases was started in J.J. Hospital attached to the Grant Medical College, Bombay in the year 1885 by Dr. C. Fernandes, M.D. (Brussels).

Dr. U.B. Narayana Rao of Bombay was publishing a journal under the name “Indian Journal of Dermatology”. In the year 1947, due to his earnest efforts the Indian Association of Dermatologists and Venereologists (I.A.D.V.) was started.  The first All India conference of the association was held in Bombay, on 27th December 1947.  It was presided by Dr. R.V. Rajam of Madras Medical College; Dr. U.B. Narayana Rao was the Secretary.  The Journal that he was publishing became the official organ of the association under the name “Indian Journal of Dermatology and Venereology”.  The I.A.D.V. was affiliated to the  international league of Dermatological Societies and became a member of the Medical  Associations and Societies of India.

The I.A.D.V. was started with 54 founder members and had four regional branches – North, South, East and West. The Southern branch had members from Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Kerala.  By 1966, the membership rose to 212 with 41 from the South.  In 1970, Kerala left the Southern branch and formed a South-West branch.  Karnataka and Tamilnadu members continued to meet under the southern branch of I.A.D.V. By 1972, the I.A.D.V. had a membership of 302 with the southern branch contributing 51 of them.

With a small membership in the early years, IADV conferences were held once in five years at metropolitan cities – Calcutta (1952).  Madras (1957) and Bombay (1962).  During these fifteen years the membership increased significantly and it was felt desirable to hold conferences annually.  Dr. S.C. Desai of Bombay made this possible by associating I.A.D.V. with the Association of Physicians of India (A.P.I.) and holding our conference along with their annual meetings.  These joint annual conferences of A.P.I. and I.A.D.V. were convenient in some ways and continued from 1963 to 1974.

A decade after the formation of I.A.D.V. the Dermatologic Society of India (D.S.I) was started in Madras by Dr. A.S. Thambiah, exclusively for the Dermatologists.  The existence of two parallel associations in the country was not desirable.  On 28-01-1973, at Udaipur, during the Joint Annual Conference of A.P.I. the two associations, viz. I.A.D.V. and D.S.I. merged together to form the “Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists” (I.A.D.V.L.) with a new constitution and bye-laws.  Prof. B.N. Banerjee became the first President and Dr. L.K. Bhutani the first Hon. General Secretary.  A new emblem with the year 1973 inscribed on it came into existence.  The name of the Journal published by I.A.D.V. was changed to “Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology” (I.J.D.V.L.).  The historic Udaipur Conference thus became the 1st National Conference of I.A.D.V.L.

By the mid seventies, the membership of our association soared in line with the increase in the number of Medical Colleges in the Country.  It was thus felt desirable to hold our conferences separately, independent of the A.P.I.   The first independent nation conference of I.A.D.V.L. was held in Trivandrum from 14-16 January 1975.  A special issue of I.J.D.V.L. was brought out in September 1975 to commemorate this event.

The present emblem of I.A.D.V.L. with 1973 inscribed gives the impression that there was no association of Dermatologists prior to that year.  It is desirable to change the amblem to indicate that the I.A.D.V.L. is a successor of I.A.D.V. (1947) and D.S.I.

Sources consulted:

• IADV – Member’s who’s who (1966)
• IADV – Members’s Who’s Who (1972)
• IADVL Roster (1977)

*(Born in 1917 at Mysore, Dr. D.P. Jayaram is the seniormost Dermatologist in Karnataka today.  He was trained under Prof. Donald M Pillsbury for his M.Sc (Med) in Dermatology and Syphilology at the University of Pennsylavania, USA, between 1947 and 1949.  He served in different Medical Colleges at Mysore, Bangalore & Hubli and retired as Professor of Dermatology in 1974.  Since then Dr. Jayaram is practicing as a Consultant in Bangalore.  He was the President of I.A.D.V. in 1971) 

I.A.D.V.L. K.T. BRANCH (1973 – 1993)
Dr. D.A. Satish, M.D. (AIIMS) President, IADVL – KT Branch (1993)

The Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists (I.A.D.V.L.) came into existence on the 29th of January 1973 at Udaipur with the merger of the Indian Association of Dermatologists and Venereologists (IADV) and the Dermatologic Society of India (D.S.I).  Till 1973, members from Karnataka and Tamilnadu were meeting under the southern branch of I.A.D.V.  With the formation of I.A.D.V.L. members from different states of the country were allowed to form their own separate branches.  Members from Karnataka and Tamilnadu decided to stay together and form a combined branch.

On the 15th of June 1973, at Madras, under the Chairmanship of Dr. A. Krishna the combined Karnataka – Tamilnadu branch of I.A.D.V.L. was inaugurated.  The inaugural meet was held at the P.G. Hall, Government General Hospital, Madras.  About 15 members, attended the first meeting.  Apart from Dr. A. Krishna, Dr. Mathai, Dr. K.M. Prakash, Dr. A. Thonthiraj, Dr. C.N. Pandurangan and Dr. V. Rajashekharan were some of the other members who attended the meeting.

Three meetings were held in the inaugural year (1973) at Madras, CMC, Vellore and K.R. Hospital, Mysore.  The clinical meetings included discussion of interesting cases and were very informative.  A total of 15 meetings were held between 1973 and 1980 at different venues in Tamilnadu and Karnataka.  The annual conferences were generally held in Bangalore in November or December.  For two consecutive years in 1982 and 1983 a record number of 4 meetings in a year were held. Subsequently it was decided to have 3 meetings a year.  From 1988 onwards, the numbers of meetings were reduced to two a year.

As the Conferences became more and more popular, the scopes of the meetings were gradually enlarged.  Apart from case discussions and guest lectures, scientific sessions of free papers from members and award paper presentations from postgraduates cane into vogue.  Quiz sessions from postgraduates which were introduced in the mid eighties became an instant success.  It has become a regular affair in every meeting since then.

The membership of the branch gradually increased in number.  Initially there were more members from Karnataka.  The Tamilnadu members joined in large numbers in 1985.  The total membership especially the life membership soared from 1989 onwards.  Presently, the Karnataka-Tamilnadu branch is the largest branch of I.A.D.V.L. with nearly 350 members.

In 1985, to encourage publication of papers in IJDVL from Karnataka and Tamilnadu, the branch decided to award cash awards to the first author of the papers published.  A record number of 11 papers were published in a recent issue of IJDVL by members from our states.

In the annual meeting of the branch held in Madras in November 1988, Dr. K.Rajendran of Madras suggested that a combined meet of southern states could be organized.  The historic first south zone conference of IADVL was held on the 15th and 16th of September 1990 at Cochin in Kerala.  The 2nd South Zone Conference was held at Madras in 1991 and the third at Gulbarga in November 1992.  The Conferences have been well attended and highly successful.  Consequently from 1993 onwards it has been decided to have only one IADVL, KT Branch conference a year in the month of May.  The annual general body meeting of the branch will now be held along with the south zone conferences to be held in November every year.

The 25th meeting of IADVL, KT Branch was held at CMC, Vellore on 12-03-1983.  The 50th meeting of the branch was combined with the south zone conference held in Gulbarga in November 1992.  The 51st conference of our branch is being hosted at Bangalore on the 8th of May 1993.

Since the members were started increasing in numbers both state office bearers were decided to have separate state branches and got separated on August 2009 in 73rd IADVL KT conference at Erode. Dr Raghavendra Topkhane has been elected as president and Dr Raghunatha Reddy R as Secretary for IADVL KARNATAKA Branch.

IADVL, KT Branch Conferences (1973 – 2009)

* These K.T. Branch meetings were held along with South Zone Conferences 

Office Bearers of IADVL KT Branch *

IADVL Presidents from Karnataka & Tamilnadu

IADVL National presidents from Karnataka & Tamilnadu

1977	Dr.T V Venkateshan, Madurai
1983	Dr. A Krishna, Madras
1986	Air Comdr. R K Dutta,Bangalore
1990	Dr. K.Siddappa, Davanagere
1998	Dr. Jayakar Thomas, Chennai
2000	Dr. Ganesh S Pai, Mangalore
2008	Dr. Sacchidanand. S, Bangalore
2011	Dr S D N Gupta, Bangalore
2015	Dr Venkatram Mysore
2018	Dr Ramesh Bhat
2021	Dr Jayadev Betkerur
2024	Dr Manjunath Shenoy

Former Editor ( IJDVL )

Dr. R Mathai of CMC, Vellore was Editor of IJDVL for 10 years (1974-1984)

Office Bearers at National Level from Karnataka

Dr. Sachidanand	Dr. S D N Gupta	Dr. Arun C Inamdar	Dr. Ramesh Bhat M	Dr. Jaidev Betkerur
National Secretary (2002-06)	Treasurer (2002-06)	Vice President (2006)	General Secretary (2010-12)	Treasurer (2010-12)

Memories