Srinagar, Sep 28: The 4th National Mid-Term CME of the Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (IACAM) concluded in Srinagar on Sunday after three days of discussions on the ethical, legal and clinical dimensions of child and adolescent mental healthcare.
Held from September 25 to 27, the CME was organised by IACAM in collaboration with the Jammu & Kashmir Psychiatric Society (JKPS). The programme, themed “Children, Ethics and Laws”, brought together psychiatrists, psychologists, paediatricians, legal professionals, researchers and other mental-health practitioners from across the country.
The conference was inaugurated by Chief Guest Dr Iffat Hassan Shah, Principal/ Dean Government Medical College, Srinagar. Addressing the gathering, Dr Shah highlighted the expansion of mental-health services in Kashmir and acknowledged the sustained efforts of professionals working in the field.
Dr Savita Malhotra, Life President of IACAM, stressed the need to train and deploy more mental-health professionals to meet the growing psychological and developmental needs of children and adolescents.
Dr Vivek Agarwal, President, IACAM, and Dr Rachana Bhargava, General Secretary, IACAM, underlined the importance of integrating ethical and legal considerations into child and adolescent mental-health practice. They emphasised that such an approach is essential for ensuring responsible, rights-based and child-centred care.
The scientific programme examined the relationship between mental healthcare, child rights and the legal framework governing children and young people. Sessions addressed ethical dilemmas in clinical practice, legal issues involving children, mental-health assessments, child protection, developmental concerns and the responsibilities of professionals working with young people.
The CME featured lectures, interactive workshops, panel discussions and academic exchanges. Across the sessions, speakers emphasised that children should be recognised not only as recipients of care but also as individuals with rights, voices, vulnerabilities and evolving capacities.
The programme included contributions from several distinguished experts and academicians, including Dr Shekhar Seshadri, whose work in child and adolescent mental health, ethics and child rights has influenced professional practice and training in the field. Clinicians, academicians and experts from diverse disciplines also participated in the scientific deliberations.
During a Panel Discussion on ‘From chalkboards to chat bots ‘ the speakers reteriated that AI is evolution and it is here to stay there is no debate on usefulness of AI and Chatbots but their is no denying the fact that they are adversaries to human brain too much useful and intelligent for the very existence of ordinary brain and hence challenge to very existence of humans in the form we know of them. While chat bots will replace the classroom and will make education equitable and individualised but their is a danger that it will create chat bots of knowledge and not creative critical wild thinkers of Socratic learning and Aristotelian academia.
He said that AI is the evolutionary step in human history and it will have the impact larger than any other great invention it is here to stay we cannot shy away from it we have to take assistance from it and the changes in human race will be for posterity to see
The way we communicate socialise and express emotions is already changing and rest will follow -the humans, mutants, hybrids and slave robots will coexist or wage war.
The organisers called for evidence-based, ethical, compassionate and rights-based mental healthcare for children and adolescents. They noted that addressing child and adolescent mental health as a public-health priority would require sustained cooperation among professionals, families, schools, healthcare institutions, policymakers and legal authorities.
The conference also highlighted Jammu & Kashmir’s growing role in academic and professional engagement in mental health and strengthened links between practitioners in the region and colleagues from across India.
Dr Rayees Ahmad Wani ( Organising Chairperson) and Dr Syed Karrar Hussain ( Organising Secretary ) thanked the faculty, delegates, students, organising teams and collaborating institutions for their contributions to the CME. The gathering concluded with a renewed commitment to developing accessible, ethical and child-centred mental-health systems that place the dignity, voice and best interests of every child at the centre of clinical practice, policy and law.
