A two-day 10th FBDOI national conference and the first national conference on eradication of thalassaemia was held at Chandigarh on May 25 and 26. Motivators from Odisha Jammula Suresh, PK Sahu (AVBD, Brahmapur) Dr Uma Sankar Prasad Patra, Shaik Ibrahim of District Blood Donors' and Motivators' Forum, Koraput and Pradeepta Tripathy, VBD Consultant, Bhubaneswar, participated in the conference.
The conference was inaugurated by former Chief Election Commissioner of India SY Quraishi. In his inaugural address, Quraishi appreciated the idea of eradication of thalassemia in the country. He also congratulated the organisers for their concern for the suffering thalassaemic patients. FBDOI president Dr Debasis Gupta presided over the inaugural function. Secretary General Apuba Ghosh, Niti Sarin, Cine actress Kiren Kher and Dr Man Mohan Kaur from Blood Bank Society, Chandigarh graced the occasion as guests of honour.
Eminent speakers Dr Binoy Sethy from Maharashtra, Dr Reena Das and Paul Singh, Chandigarh, Dr Tajendra Singh, Dr Naresh Bhatia and Dr JS Arora from Delhi, Sitesh Bhatacharya from Tripura, SK Singh from Jharkhand and Mahesh Trivedi from Gujarat spoke. The conference was organised jointly by FBDOI and Blood Bank Society of Chandigarh.