Prof H S Asopa - A tribute

Dr. Hari Shankar Asopa Figure 1 was well known not only in India but all over the world for his expertise in reconstructive surgery, especially in the field of hypospadias and stricture urethra. He was extremely popular among the patients and the public as a kind and humanitarian doctor. He was sympathetic to poor and downtrodden people of his region and served many poor patients by providing them free treatment.Figure 1: Prof HS AsopaBorn in July 1932, Prof. Hari Shankar Asopa graduated from S N Medical College, Agra, with a brilliant career. He stood first in Agra University (including Agra, Gwalior, and Indore Medical Colleges at that time) with several gold medals including the Chancellor's Medal. He did his MS Surgery (Agra), FRCS (England), and FRCS (Edinburgh) all in 1964, and joined the faculty of SN Medical College, Agra, the same year. Later, he joined as Professor and Head of the Department of Surgery at MLB Medical College, Jhansi, as the youngest Professor and Head of the Department of Surgery at that time. Thereafter, he was Professor Emeritus at SN Medical College, Agra. He was a very popular and respected teacher. He continued his teaching interest by training post-MS doctors and running a postgraduate course of DNB in Surgery and Family Medicine accredited by the National Board of Examinations. He invented a one-stage operation for hypospadias.1 One in every 250–300 boys are born with this defect, about 40,000 boys are born every year with this defect in India alone. This procedure, known as the Asopa operation, was soon being done all over the world by urologists, pediatric surgeons, and plastic and general surgeons. Asopa procedure found a place in articles, international journals, international references, and textbooks. In 1984, he published another operation for hypospadias titled "One Stage Repair of Hypospadias Using Foreskin Tube" which was a refinement of the original Asopa operation and is called Asopa II operation and was later described in textbooks as Asopa Procedure 1990 Version.2 An operation invented by Dr. Asopa in the mid-1990s for stricture urethra is being followed universally by urologists worldwide and has made urethral stricture surgery easy and safe to perform.3 It has been popularized among Reconstructive Urologists in Europe and America as "Dorsal Inlay Urethroplasty" or "Asopa Technique." Numerous articles have been written by urologists around the world recognizing this technique as a major advancement in urethroplasty and its high success rate. Yet another operation invented by him has made pancreatic surgery for cancer of pancreas safer by preventing pancreatic fistula and pancreatitis after pancreaticoenteric anastomosis.4 Dr. Asopa was invited to give talks on his operations in numerous national and international conferences. Lectures and videos of his intricate surgeries are shown in international conferences and on websites. He demonstrated these operations at workshops in over 50 institutions and preconference workshops in India and abroad, where hundreds of general surgeons, plastic surgeons, pediatric surgeons, and urologists benefited. Dr. Asopa was awarded many prizes, memberships, and fellowships including Col. Pandalai Oration in 1991, the most prestigious award of the Association of Surgeons of India. He received the "Dr. B. C. Roy National Award" as Eminent Medical Teacher in 1991. He was again awarded the "Dr. B. C. Roy National Award" as Eminent Medical Man for the year 1996, both by the then Presidents of India. This award is given once a year to a medical man out of all medical faculty and disciplines in the country. He was awarded Honorary DSc by Dr. B R Ambedkar University, Agra, in 1995. Prof. Asopa served as National President of the Association of Surgeons of India in 1996. He was invited to be the Founder and President of the International Society of Hypospadias and Intersex Disorders. This society awards the "Asopa Lecture" to eminent international authorities in its Biennial Conference. He was honored with "Hunterian Professorship" by the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1997, a rare honor for any Indian doctor. He received Col. Sangam Lal Oration and Gen. Amir Chand Oration, both by the National Academy of Medical Sciences of India, and the Asian Society of Pediatric Urology Oration in 2000 for outstanding contribution to pediatric urology. He was awarded fellowship of the National Academy of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, by Dr. Man Mohan Singh (Former Prime Minister of India). Prof. Asopa was widely known for his gentle behavior, benevolence, and sympathetic attitude toward the weaker sections of society and was honored by various societies and social organizations, including a Vishesh Sammaan Patra (special commemoration letter) in 1988 from then Chief Minister of Rajasthan Shri Shiv Charan Mathur. This noble soul left for his heavenly abode on November 21, 2023. He is survived by his wife Mrs. Vimla Asopa, sons Dr. Ravi Asopa, a urologist settled in Melbourne, Australia, Dr. Jyoti Asopa, a family physician who is the director of the Asopa Hospital, and daughter Dr. Archana Asopa Nishchal, settled in New York, USA.