A Salute to Service: Goa’s Salkars Honoured at KLE Colorectal Cancer CME in Belagavi
Dr Shekhar Salkar and Dr Medha Salkar felicitated for decades of dedicated service to medicine, public health and humanity
Belagavi, August 9, 2026: A distinguished gathering of clinicians, academics and public-health leaders assembled at the Dr V. D. Patil Hall of the KLE Convention Centre, Belagavi, for the two-day Contemporary Management of Colorectal Cancer CME 2026, held on August 8 and 9. The inaugural function, held on the evening of August 8 at 3.30 pm, was not only a celebration of advances in cancer care but also a deeply meaningful tribute to two of Goa’s most respected physicians — Dr Shekhar Salkar and Dr Medha Salkar — whose lives and careers have been defined by an unwavering commitment to medicine and humanity.
The Felicitation was carried by Prof. Dr Sandeep Shrivastava, Vice-Chancellor of KAHER, as the chief guest,Dr Rajesh Powar, Principal of J. N. Medical College, presided over the function, while Dr Shreekanth Y. Saka attended as the KMC observer.
Among the guests of honour were Dr Vishwanath Pattanshetti, Registrar, KAHER; Col. Dr M. Dayananda, Medical Director, KLES Dr Prabhakar Kore Hospital and Medical Research Centre; Dr H. B. Rajashekhar, Director, USM-KLE; Dr R. S. Mudhol; Medical Superintendent Dr Arif Maldar; Dr Madhav Prabhu, Director, Clinical Services; Dr Sharad Desai, Past President of IASO and Secretary of the Gokarma Oncology Association; and Dr Sanjeev Kulgod, Treasurer of the Gokarma Oncology Association.
The organising committee was led by Dr Kumar M. Vinchurkar, Organising Chairperson, with Dr Mahesh Kalloli and Dr Santosh Mathapati serving as Organising Secretary and Co-Secretary, respectively.
That both honourees hailed from Goa gave the occasion a particularly special significance. For Goa’s medical fraternity, the Salkars represent something larger than professional achievement. Their journeys are a reminder that the true measure of a doctor’s life is not only the number of patients treated, but also the lives touched, communities strengthened and causes championed.
The felicitation of Dr Shekhar Salkar
,A surgical oncologist trained at Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital and currently President of the Gokarma Oncology Association, Dr Salkar has spent more than four decades extending the boundaries of clinical medicine into the realm of population level cancer prevention.
He is widely recognised as one of the architects of Goa’s tobacco-control movement. He established the state’s first Tobacco Cessation Clinic, which went on to be regarded as a national model, and played an instrumental role in landmark measures including the Goa Smoking and Spitting Prohibition Act, 1997, the declaration of tobacco as “not fit for human consumption,” the complete ban on gutkha in Goa in line with subsequent FSSAI guidelines, and early advocacy that contributed to the movement against e-cigarettes.
The impact of this sustained effort has been remarkable. His decades-long advocacy is credited with contributing to a substantial decline in smoking prevalence in Goa — from roughly 34 per cent in 1984 to about 9.8per cent , alongside a marked decline in oral cancer incidence. It stands as a powerful example of how persistent medical advocacy can translate into measurable improvements in public health.
But Dr Salkar’s contribution extends far beyond policy and legislation.
He founded NOTE(India) , one of the country’s early tobacco-control NGOs, and has delivered more than 300 talks and conducted over 500 screening and awareness camps, largely on a voluntary basis. He conceptualised Goa’s first joint Integrative Oncology Clinic and helped introduce the state’s first Living Will and end-of-life care directive.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, he established step-up COVID care centres in rural Bicholim and provided telemedicine services that benefited thousands of people. He later joined the Tika Utsav vaccination drive, continuing his commitment to reaching communities during one of the most challenging periods in recent medical history.
His contributions have earned him several honours, including the Sushruta Award for Tobacco Control, COVID Warrior Award and the Government of Goa’s Best Social Worker Award.
Yet perhaps the most fitting tribute to Dr Salkar is not any award or title, but the enduring impact of the causes he chose to champion often long before they became mainstream public-health priorities.
A Life Dedicated to Preventive Healthcare
Equally moving was the felicitation of Dr Medha Salkar, whose career has been marked by a quiet but extraordinary dedication to public health and community medicine.
A senior government physician who entered medical service in 1992, Dr Medha Salkar has spent more than three decades strengthening preventive healthcare across Goa. Her work has ranged from planning and implementing statewide programmes in blindness control and viral hepatitis to taking healthcare directly to communities in need.
One of her notable contributions was her role in establishing a six-bedded dialysis unit at the Community Health Centre, Bicholim, bringing life-sustaining renal care closer to rural patients who previously had to travel long distances for treatment. She also played a role in commissioning a CSR funded mobile health van for the centre, further extending healthcare outreach to underserved populations.
Her commitment to prevention has been equally impressive. She has led HPV vaccination drives for underprivileged girls, hepatitis B and C screening programmes for sanitation and garbage-collection workers, and NCD, dental, cancer-detection and breast-screening camps for communities that often remain beyond the reach of specialised healthcare.
She has also been a strong advocate of organ donation, being among the first women in Goa to pledge her organs. Her public-health efforts have extended to biomedical waste management, mental-health awareness and Basic Life Support training for healthcare workers.
Her compassion is reflected not only in her professional work but also in the causes she has embraced personally. Away from her official responsibilities, she has supported the upbringing of three girl children under the Sukanya Scheme.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she served on the frontline at the Bicholim step-up care centre and was recognised as a COVID Warrior for her service.
Known for her extraordinary personal discipline, she is also admired for performing 111 Surya Namaskars every day a practice that reflects the same determination and consistency that have characterised her professional life.
As a past President of the Indian Medical Association’s Goa State and Bicholim branches, she has also been a strong voice against violence directed towards doctors and has consistently advocated for dignity and safety within the medical profession.
Beyond Medicine: A Shared Philosophy of Service
The felicitation of Dr Shekhar and Dr Medha Salkar was more than a ceremonial honour. It was a celebration of a shared philosophy,that medicine finds its highest purpose when knowledge is transformed into service, and when that service reaches those who need it the most.
Their journeys are different, yet deeply intertwined. One has worked extensively at the intersection of cancer care, advocacy and public policy; the other has devoted decades to preventive healthcare, community medicine and strengthening services at the grassroots.
Together, they embody a simple but powerful idea: a doctor’s legacy is not measured only by the treatments delivered, but by the lives made healthier, the suffering prevented and the hope given to those who may otherwise have been forgotten.
For the Goan medical fraternity, their recognition in Belagavi was therefore a moment of collective pride.
The warm response from the large gathering of faculty, delegates and students added an emotional dimension to the inaugural ceremony. The applause that followed their felicitation seemed to acknowledge not merely their professional accomplishments, but the countless unseen acts of service that have defined their lives.
As the ceremony concluded and delegates turned their attention to the scientific sessions on contemporary colorectal cancer management, the evening had already left behind a lasting message:
Medicine advances through science and innovation ,but it earns its deepest meaning through compassion, courage and service to humanity.
And in that spirit, the Salkars’ journey stands as an inspiring example for generations of doctors to come.
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