Academy
"Blood: Cure with care" - The Annual Academic Sessions in 2023
The annual Academic Sessions were held by the Sri Lanka College of Transfusion Physicians and ISBT Academy from the 29th of June to the 2nd of July in 2023, as a hybrid session at the National Blood Centre in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The theme for the academic session was "Blood: Cure with care", which included a pre-congress and a post-congress session.
Sri Lanka College of Transfusion Physicians (SLCTP) is the main academic organization that provides technical expertise to the Ministry of Health (MOH) and National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) on matters related to blood donors, donations, processing, testing, and organ transplants, wherever the need arises in Sri Lanka. NBTS is recognized by the WHO as a collaboration center for the South East Asian region. All the technical support and input is provided by the college as expected.
Group photo of academic session participants
The scientific programme of the Annual Academic Sessions 2023 included a wide range selection of topics to be presented by renowned experts from local and international faculties. Some international speakers joined online to deliver their presentations, while all local speakers and two international speakers, presented in person.
There were symposia on renal transplantation and HIV; moreover, plenaries on clinical transfusion practice, haemoglobinopathies, therapeutic apheresis and patient blood management. The pre-congress workshop covered topics on HLA in transfusion and transplantation including HLA typing, HLA antibody screening, HLA compatibility testing, Interpretation of test results, clinical correlation, and case scenarios. The post-congress workshop was focused on point-of-care testing. It comprised of a wet workshop, to improve hands-on skills with the ROTEM platform and a case-based discussion on the point-of -care testing in different settings such as trauma, postpartum hemorrhage, cardiac surgery, and liver transplant.
Participants in a session
Parallel to the congress, abstracts were called and 31 abstracts were selected by a panel of experts in the field. The abstracts comprised of scientific research in the field of transfusion medicine, audits, and interesting case presentations. 10 free papers were presented orally and the rest were presented in the form of posters.
Upon request made by the SLCTP, the ISBT academy granted financial support to cover the expenses of the event. It was helpful to conduct the academic activity more successfully.
Presenters group photo
Overall, the academic session was very dynamic and the participants were able to gain new knowledge on transfusion as well to refresh their knowledge on transfusion medicine. The annual academic session was a good platform to gather the transfusion medicine community of the country to share their experiences and connect with each other.
