Viral Bellydance Video at Medical Conference Sparks Controversy

Chennai: A recent video showing a belly dancer performing at a doctors' conference in Chennai has become viral on social media. Soon after the video surfaced, netizens started questioning holding such an event at an academic conference for doctors.

The viral video is from the 47th Annual Conference of the Association of Colon and Rectal Surgeons of India (ACRSICON). The association organized the conference (ACRSICON 2024) on "Precise and Personalised Surgery". It was held at Taj Coromandel Chennai from 19th September to 21st September 2024.

Academic discussions on various topics including Master Class in lasers in Proctology, Debates in CRS Fissurectomy, and complications after Proctology procedures, were held at this event. The event also included workshops on robotic surgery, laparoscopy colorectal surgery, malignant proctology etc., lectures from renowned doctors including international participants, and several paper and video presentations. The event further saw a bellydance performance from a dancer which was not mentioned in the agenda and the video has now raised several eyebrows.

Among the academic partners and sponsors of the event included top notch hospitals including Apollo, MGM Healthcare, Kauvery Hospitals and big pharma giants including Mankind Pharma, Sun Pharma, Johnson and Johnson, Torrent, Lupin etc.

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Video Raises Eyebrows on the Conduct of Doctors & on Organisation of Conference:

As soon as the video went viral, netizens began questioning on social media whether such conferences, which are organised for doctors as academic events, should be having such type of entertainment as well or not.

"This annual conference of the Association of Colon and Rectal Surgeons of India, held in Chennai on 19th to 21st Sep . What I want to know from @IMAIndiaOrg is this some kind of training in human anatomy? Old doctors grabbing a women in public is what part of medicine practice?" an user wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

"Don't understand in professional conferences & events why do they need all these semi dance pgms?" wrote another user.

Referring to the video also showing many of the doctors dancing while drinking alcohol, one X user wrote, "Isn't dancing while drinking alcohol at the "Great Colon Surgeons Conference" defaming the sanctity of that conference itself?"

People also raised questions on the pharma sponsorship of the event questioning whether the big pharma giants are actually such cheap endeavours to entertain doctors.

Sharing the video, an X user wrote, "Which pharma company sponsored it? Every pharma conference/event should be thoroughly investigated. Remember a doctor who travelled with her whole family for pharma events & said, "Even personal expenses were taken care of by pharma co."

Organisers Distance Themselves from the Event:

However, as soon as the video went viral, ACRSI i.e. the conference organisers distanced themselves from the event stating that this was supposed to be a classical dancing performance and blaming the event management team for the blunder.

Speaking to South First, Dr. Kamal Gupta, the Secretary of the Association of Colon and Rectal Surgeons of India (ACRSI) said, "Truthfully, we were supposed to have a classical dance performance, and we left the arrangements to the organizers. However, it wasn’t the organizers themselves but the event management team. The organizers were very busy with academic activities, and suddenly, in the evening, we saw a girl dancing. I don’t really know what happened because I arrived at the hall quite late."

Emphasizing that it was a very silly mistake on the part of the event manager, Dr Gupta reiterated, "We are doctors, and our image needs to reflect that. We were all busy in the halls, reading papers and attending sessions, as conferences typically go. It was an unfortunate incident, and we strongly condemn it. The event management had told us it was going to be a South Indian classical dance performance. I don’t know what went wrong, however, we strongly condemn it as an association."

When asked if any action would be taken against them, he added, "How can we take any action against the event management team? We are not in any capacity to do so. We rely on the event management team to handle things, and if something goes wrong, they are supposed to address it. But, whatever happened was very inappropriate, and we strongly condemn it."

"We need to focus solely on our teachings and learning—what we teach and what we learn. All the senior faculty members are ashamed of this incident. If you ask me, we are truly ashamed of such events," he added.

Meanwhile, when asked about the issue, the Secretary of the National Medical Commission (NMC), Dr. B Srinivas told Medical Dialogues, "We have not received any formal complaints in this regard. If this is true, this is very unbecoming of a doctor. If it is a personal event then it is a separate issue. However, at academic conferences, doctors are expected to behave in a professional manner which will not lower the character or the profession of any doctor."

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