RUN FOR OMFS

This year the AOMSI completes 50 years of service to the community. As a part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations, the association proposed to spread awareness about the speciality among the society and envisaged the idea of having a marathon happening across the various states of India. Another objective of thismarathon was to bring into light the various issues causing damage to human life and also provide an opportunity to all the enthusiastic surgeons to be a part of the marathon. The marathon began with the lighting of the torch light on the 23rd of September, 2018 at the southernmost tip of India at Kanyakumari. AOMSI decided to create awareness regarding the ill effects of tobacco, oral cancer, road safety and cleft lip and palate.

The start of the marathon at Kanyakumari was from Vivekananda Memorial. A total of 150 participants covered 5 km in this marathon. Dr.Krishnamurthy Bonanthaya, Dr.Philip Mathew, Dr.Pritham Shetty, Dr.M. Veerabahu, Dr.Jacob Raja, Dr.S.Jimson, Dr.Ramkumar, Dr.Emmanuel were some of the special guests who graced this occasion. The torch then reached Tirunelveli on 24th September, 2018, where a 5 km marathon was run by 115 participants from Anna Stadium. Dr Durai Singh consented to be the special guest at Tirunelveli. Following Tirunelveli, a 4 km marathon was conducted at Madurai with 300 participants on 25th September, 2018. On 26th September, 2018, an 8 km marathon was started off from Uzhavar Sandhai, Trichy with 800 participants.A 5 km marathon was then flagged off from Nehru Stadium, Coimbatore on 27th September, 2018 with Mr. Pari - DGP - West Zone Dr. S. Raja Sabapathy, Director Ganga Hospital, Dr. Matheswaran, Director Royal Care Hospital and Dr. Rajesh Babu Secretary IMA Coimbatore as the special guests. A total of 750 participants took part in this marathon on 28th September, 2018. The torch was then received at Salem and a 5 km marathon was run by 300 participants from Mahatma Gandhi stadium. An important aspect of this marathon was that physically challenged individuals were also given an opportunity to participate in this marathon. The torch then reached the capital of the state, Chennai on 30th September, 2018, from where a 5.3 km marathon was run by a total of 550 participants with Dr. V. Shantha, Director, Adyar Cancer Institute as the special guest.

From Tamilnadu, the torch was then passed onto Telangana State. The 3 km marathon was first flagged off from Municipal Gardens, Warangal on 23rd October, 2018 that witnessed a total of 800 participants. Power point presentation given to students regarding road safety, tobacco and drug abuse. Dr Harish Raj, District Medical and Health Officer, Warangal Urban and Dr Jayasimha Reddy, President IDA, Telangana were the special guests. The torch was then handed over to the surgeons at Sangareddy on 24th October, 2018. Around 450 participants took part in the 6 km awareness rally from the Government Hospital to the Inspection Bunglow, Sangareddy district. The event was graced by the presence of Mr. S.Chandrashekar Reddy SP and Dr.K.Sangareddy, Superintendent. In addition to a 5 km marathon, an oral screening camp and a flash mob was conducted at Karimnagar on 4th November, 2018 with Sri. Sarfarazahmadias, District Collector as a special guest. Next, a 5 km marathon was flagged off from Khammam on 8th November, 2018. Shri. Puvvadaajaykumar Hon. Transport Minister of Telangana State, Chairman, Mamata Education Society was the special guest of this event. The event also witnessed mob dances and skits and a rally with sportsmen, prodigy and skating stars. From Khammam, the torch was passed onto the surgeons at Mahabubnagar from where a 2 km marathon was conducted with 300 participants on 13th November, 2018. The Superintendent of Police, Mahabubnagar was the special guest. Along with the marathon, the association conduced street plays, mime shows and flash mobs. On 14th November, 2018, a 4 km marathon took off from Vikarabad with the District Collector and the SP, Vikarabad as the special guests. This marathon focused on creating awareness on RTA and oral cancer through mob dances, skits and street plays. On the same day, another 4 km marathon was flagged off from Tandur which had the Superintendent of the District Hospital as is special guest. The marathon was then continued from Nizamabad on 15th November, 2018 that also created awareness on RTA with face painting demonstrating ill effects of RTA and tobacco hazards. The marathon saw 450 participants with Dr. Sridhar Reddy, District Commissioner, Dr. E. Ravindhar Reddy, Chairman, MCI Telangana and Mr. Venkateshwar Reddy, District Transport Officer. On 16th November, 2018, a 5 km marathon took off from Nalgonda with Mr. Padmanabha Reddy, Additional SP as the special guest. The marathon also had the participation of HIV positive orphans and general public. The torch then reached Hyderabad from where a 5 km marathon was flagged off on 18th November, 2018 with Mr. Anil Kumar, Additional Commissioner and Dr. Pritham Shetty, Hon’ble General Secretary, AOMSI as the special guests. In addition, an awareness program on local FM radio station, flash mob, face painting, health awareness program by Dinaz were also conducted. Guiness book of world records holder and fitness expert, Ruhinaz celebrity yoga trainer and meditation guru Senthil Kumar cinematographer epic movie Bahubali, Ravi Vadlamani rotary club governor were also a part of the marathon.

On 1st December, 2018, the torch was handed over to the association members at Vijayawada where a 5 km marathon and skits were organized. Hon. Gadde Ramamohan Rao, MLA and Mr. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, Commissioner of police were the special guests of the marathon. The next marathon took off from Tirupathi on 6th December, 2018 with Mr. G. Narasimha Yadav, TUDA-Chairman as the special guest. Skits were also organized and the event was promoted with the help of radio channels. On 10th December, 2018, a 4 km marathon was organized from Kadappa along with an awareness speech by Dr. Bala Subramanya, Director- RIIMS. A 3 km marathon took off from Kurnool on 17th December, 2018, with 200 participants. Skits and flash mobs were also organized. With Mr. Murali Krishna as the special guest, a 3 km marathon was flagged off from Nellore on 18th December, 2018. From Nellore, the torch was passed onto Ongole on 22nd December, 2018 where a 2 km marathon was organized with 200 participants and Hon. Janardhan Rao graced the occasion as the special guest. On 28th December, 2018, a 6 km marathon, skits and flash mobs were conducted at Eluru and subsequently on 30th December, 2019, with Dr. Yasmin, DM and HO, as the special guest a 5 km marathon was organized. A 5 km marathon that had about 2500 government school students participating was conducted at Rajamundry on 6th January, 2019. The event had Mr. Sumeth Gandhi, IAS as the special guest. The last marathon from Andhra Pradesh was flagged off from Vishakapatnam on 27th January, 2019. The 5 km marathon had about 200 participants.

Following Andhra Pradesh, the torch was then received by the members at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh where a 2 km marathon was organized. The torch was then passed onto several dental colleges in Lucknow, Aligarh and Varanasi.

In , 2 marathons were organized in Mumbai between 2nd and 4th January, 2019 with Dr. Neelam Andrade and Dr. Vivek Pakhmode as the special guests. The torch was then handed over to the members in where 5 marathons were conducted from 8th to 12th January, 2019 with over 200 participants. Mr. Nitin Karmalkar, VC, Savitribai Phule, Pune University, Dr. Shirsagar, Dean, Bharti Dental college and Dr. Sharad Hardikar were the special guests. On 14thJanuary, 2019, a 3 km marathon was flagged off from Nanded. . Subsequently, the next marathon was organized from Amravati on 18th January, 2019. 75 participants were a part of this 5 km marathon. The torch was then passed onto the members at Wardha where a 4 km awareness camp was conducted with Mr. Gaurav, SP as the special guest. The walk was conducted successfully by the staff and students of OMFS department, DMIMS on 19th January, 2019. At Nagpur, 3 marathons were run by over 200 participants with Dr. Kamgaonkar, Pro-Chancellor, MUHS, Nashik between 22nd and 24th January, 2019. In addition to the marathon, a cleft camp and awareness lectures was also organized at medical, nursing and physiotherapy colleges on the realm of OMFS. On 28th January, 2019, a 3 km marathon was run y 100 participants at Dhule. At Aurangabad, Mr. Nandkumar Ghodele, Mayor flagged off a 4 km walkathon on29th January, 2019. On the same day, a 4 km marathon was flagged off from Ahmadnagar. This marathon highlighted the importance of road safety and distributed helmets to reinforce the same. The torch was then taken to Shirdi Sai Baba Temple to get the blessings of almighty. The final leg of the marathon at Maharastra was started from Nashik with Dr. Ramkumar Singhal, Commissioner of police, popularly called ‘Ironman’ as the special guest.

On 19th January, 2019, a 4 km walkathon was flagged off from Kochi, Kerala with about 200 participants. The District Collector and Assistant Commissioner of Police were the special guests at the marathon. As a part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations, the association distributed 100 traffic reflector vests to Kochi traffic police. A vehicle travelled throughout city for 8 hours to create awareness about road safety.

The torch then reached our capital, . The first marathon at Delhi was flagged off from Faridabad on 13th February, 2019 with 150 participants. Two walkathons were subsequently organized in Delhi with around 250 participants. The walkathon was graced by the presence of D. Krishnamurthy Bonanthaya, President-AOMSI and Dr. Monica Mahajan, Medical Superintendent, Max Hospitals. Along with the marathon, the members also organized tree plantation programmes.

Following the country capital, the torch was then taken to Gurugram, Haryana. On 12th March, 2019, a 4 km marathon with 150 participants was flagged off by Hind Kesari Krishan Bayapuria and Padma Shree Bajrang Punia (Indian star wrestlers), Dr. M.S. Sidhu (Head, IQAC) and Dr. Anil Gupta (Dean, FDS). The members at Karnal received the torch on 24th March, 2019 and organized a walkathon with 100 participants. A 2 km walkathon, street plays and a flash mob were then conducted by the members at Rohtak. Dr. O.P. Kalra, Vice- Chancellor, Pt.B.D.Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak was the special guest at the marathon. Students, faculties and patients of PGI, Rohtak participated in the walkathon and interns performed street plays on impaction, maxillofacial trauma and oral cancers. The torch was then handed over to the members at Chandigarh on 7th April, 2019, from where a 3 km marathon was flagged off with 150 participants. Street plays and flash mobs were also organized to create awareness. Dr. Vimal Kalla, Patron, AOMSI Haryana chapter was the special guest at this event.

The torch was then given to the association members at Dehradun, Uttarakhand on 21st March, 2019 where a 5km marathon was organized.Following Uttarakhand, walkathons were organized at Indore, on 7th April and 31st May, 2019. The event was graced by the presence of Dr. Arun Agarwal and yoga sessions were conducted at the end of the walkathon.

Marathon to create awareness on road safety and ill effects of tobacco were organized in the Northern States as well. Around 200 people participated in the marathon at Guwahati and Imphal on 28th July, 2019. A 2 km marathon was flagged off from Goa on 15th September, 2019. The torch is anticipated to reach Karnataka by October and then reach other parts of the state.

The AOMSI has taken great efforts to educate the general public about this speciality of dentistry and various other issues of immense importance in today’s society. This event has been successfully conducted in various parts of the country and has received appreciation from all quarters. People from all walks of life and all age groups had enthusiastically participated in the marathon. The organizers had dynamically conducted various other events such as street plays, rallies, camps, skits, flash mobs in addition to the marathon.The event also received a lot of attention due to participation of famed personalities and thereby made the event reach greater heights.

The association aims to spread knowledge about fatal oral diseases and road safety to all the citizens at the end of the RUN FOR OMFS.