Sunil Narayan Dutt (Dr Prof)

Serving a humungous 1.3 billion population, the Indian Subcontinent has around 10,000 qualified ENT surgeons. While the majority of the specialists serve the urban and semi-urban populations, rural India (which perhaps is over 60% of the population) still seeks specialist ENT care from general practitioners and government run primary healthcare centres that may not always house an ENT specialist. With changing governmental policies and more focus and better budgets for health both at the national and state government levels, specialist care including ENT is witnessing a sea-change in this rapidly developing nation.

I am very excited about the strides the ENT fraternity has made in the country in the past few decades. Academic associations such as the Association of Otolaryngologists of India (AOI), the more recent Indian Academy of Otolaryngology and Head Neck Surgery (IAOHNS) are hosting annual conferences and mid-term workshops regularly to keep the practitioners up to date with the state-of-the-art in terms of science, technology and surgical skills covering all aspects of ENT. For those that are showing focus and special interest in subspecialty-training, there are many focused groups such as the Indian Society of Otology (ISO), Association of Phonosurgeons of India (APOI), Cochlear Implant Group of India (CIGI), Indian Rhinological Society, Indian Association of Snoring and Sleep Apnoea and the Sialendoscopy Society of India.

I have served ENT & Audiology News for over two decades in various capacities and now I am excited to serve and represent this huge subcontinent in my new role as Global Ambassador!