The inaugural Oration was delivered by Prof. Francois Demard, Director, Centre Antoine Lacassagne, Nice, France. He spoke on “The present status and perspectives in combined treatment of pharyngeal and laryngeal tumours”. This oration was organised under the terms of the agreement of the 7th Indo-French Joint Commission in Scientific and Technical Cooperation.

Dr. Bhadrasain Vikram, Professor and Chairman, Radiation Oncologist-in-Chief, Montefiore Medical Center, the Albert Einstein Cancer Center, New York delivered the 2nd Oration. Dr. Vikram spoke on “Head and neck cancers: recent advances and future directions”. This Oration and the subsequent 3 orations have been organised jointly with the Choithram Hospital and Research Centre, Indore.

Dr. Robert Twycross delivered the 3rd Oration, and spoke on “The challenge of palliative care”. Dr. Twycross is the Macmillan Clinical Reader in Palliative Medicine, Oxford University; Consultant Physician, Sir Michael Sobell House, Churchill Hospital, Oxford; Senior Research Fellow, St. Peter’s College, Oxford; Director, Oxford International Centre for Palliative Care; Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Palliative Cancer Care, Oxford, UK.

The 4th Oration was delivered by Mr. VS Mahesh on “Institutionalizing Sewa Bhawana in hospitals: A managerial challenge”. Mr. Mahesh is Course Director (Service Management) in the School of Business, UK, Europe’s first and still the only generic post graduate programme in service management. Prior to becoming an academician, Mr. Mahesh has held top positions in the corporate world.

The 5th Oration was delivered by Dr. KA Dinshaw, DMRT (Lond.), FRCR (Lond.), Director, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, and President of the International Society of Radiation Oncology; WHO Adviser for Radiotherapy & Oncology; and the elected Chairperson of the UICC Committee on International Collaborative Activities. Dr. Dinshaw has received her basic training from Chennai, Vellore and London and has been with the Tata Memorial Hospital since 1974. A recipient of 14 national and international honours and a member of the editorial boards of several national and international medical journals, she has more than a 100 scientific publications to her credit. She spoke on “Synergies in Head & Neck Cancers: Role of Radiation Therapy”.