KATHMANDU: President Dr Ram Baran Yadav today said the country was at crossroads of political transformation and was facing unprecedented challenges in drafting of a new constitution.

“We have managed the conflict. The challenge now is to write a constitution,” he said, addressing the sixth South Asian Regional Conference of Dermatology(SARCD) and the seventh National Conference of Society of Dermatologists, Venereologist and Leprologists of Nepal (SODVELONCON), which got underway in the capital, today.

“We’re working relentlessly for the establishment of democracy, peace and harmony for the sustainable development of the country,” viewed Dr. Yadav, welcoming recommendations and resolutions from the regional conference towards the development of health policies in Nepal concerning skin diseases, which occupies 20 per cent of the total disease burden, globally.

The President further opined that the regional conference would lend a hand in knowledge-sharing for resolving key health problems facing the South Asian region.

An estimated 40 guest speakers are deliberating during the conference, which has a theme: ‘community service and teledermatology’. Some 75 experts will present their papers, said Professor Anil Kumar Jha, chairman of the conference organising committee.

Prof Jha also bemoaned that the diseases related to dermatology has been accorded less priority when compared with diarrhoea. “Problems of skin diseases are not in priority list in Nepal. But we are here to sensitise the issues,” he said.

Meanwhile, Jha said Nepal is one of the only three countries in the world where leprosy is rampant. Two other countries are Brazil and West Timore, he added.

Speaking on the same occasion, Dr Shristi Shrestha, general secretary of SODVELONCON, said teledermatology training is being currently run through Sunrise Club, for the first time in Nepal, to help the patients suffering from skin diseases in Trisuli area.

“This technology is relevant for Nepal given its terrain geography and lack of awareness among people about the disease.

During the conference, Professor Gunter Burg, Professor Gurmohan Singh, Professor Terence Ryan and late Dr WDH Perera were felicitated for their contribution in the field of dermatology.