Organisation of 44th Annual National Conference of IAPSM at Science City, Kolkata

Most important event in this year was the organisation of 44^th IAPSM Annual National Conference at Science City Kolkata on 10- 120February, 2017. Pre conference CME was also organised on 9^th February, 2017. Dedicated work by the member of the organisation made it a grand success. Throughout the year members were involved in various activities. Organisation committee and different Subcommittee had large number meetings to make it a success.

The inaugural ceremony was graced by Dr (Mrs). Sashi Panja, Minister of State for Health, and Minister, Women and Child Development, Govt. of West Bengal. Other dignitaries were (Retd) Justice Shyamal Kumar Sen, Dr. Dilip Mahalanobis -a noted paediatrician and public health researcher. The National President and Secretary- General of the Central Body of IASM were also present.

The conference was attended by over 950 delegates. During the conference a series of oration/seminar/panel discussion were organized in different halls of the Science city. Scientific papers were presented in the four different award sessions, more than 250 oral papers were presented in the free papers session and more than 300 posters were presented in the different halls during the three days conference. Scientific session were held on topic - Sustainable development, HR reform, New Vaccine introduction, Hand Washing, Tuberculosis, Urban Health, National Mental Health Survey, Iodine deficiency disorder etc.

Conference was sponsored by National and international organisation and State and central government organisation and Pharmaceutical companies.

Pre conference CME was organised on GIS, Newer Vaccine, health Economics and Operational Research in Public Health. On 2^nd day of the conference, a "WALK FOR HEALTH" was organized in the morning.

During all three days of the conference food was served in the conference venue. On second night gala dinner was organised at Swabhumi. Cultural programme was also organised.

Release of print version of Journal of Comprehensive Health

Journal of Comprehensive Health-official Journal of IAPSM WB Chapter completed another year. Print version of the Journal was released during the National Conference at Science City.

33^rd Annual State Conference of IAPSM West Bengal Chapter & Post-Conference CME of 44^th Annual National Conference of IAPSM (IAPSMCON 2017)

The 44^th Annual National Conference of the Indian Association of Preventive Medicine was held at Science City, Kolkata between the 10^th and 12^th February, 2017. Science City is one of the premier venues for scientific gatherings in this part of the country-it had state -of-the art facilities and functions under the National Council for Science Museums, Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India.

A post-conference CME was arranged by IAPSM West Bengal Chapter during the 33^rd Annual State Conference of IAPSM West Bengal chapter with financial help from the WHO Country Office, at Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research (IPGME&R), Kolkata on Saturday, May 20, 2017.

The function started off with a beautiful rendition of Rabindrasangeet sung by Dr. Somdutta Ray, who had also performed at the inauguration of the National Conference.

The CME was initiated by presentations of the Prof. Akalanka Bhandari initiated IAPSM WB Epidemiological Grant Award for best research proposal. First, the study conducted under this grant of the previous year (2016) was presented by Dr. Arkaprabha Sau, Post-Graduate Student, R G KAR Medical College, Kolkata. His project was on occupational stress among sailors at Haldia Dock Complex and application of Artificial Neural Network model for prediction of anxiety and depression in particular.

The proposals for this year were presented by researcher from different institutions of West Bengal. The winner of this year's grant was Dr. Shobhit Garg, post-graduate student at AIIH&PH, Kolkata. His proposal was study on Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Diabetes Distress Scale among Diabetic Patients attending a Primary Health Centre of Singur, West Bengal.

The first of the scientific sessions was on depression, keeping in mind this year's WHO World Health Day theme- "Depression, Let's Talk". The speaker for this session was Prof. Dr. Pradip Kumar Saha, Director, Institute of Psychiatry (IOP), Kolkata. He spoke at length about the epidemiology, recognition and treatment of depression, especially for non- pscyhiatrists. He gave expert insights and clinical pearls on how to diagnose atypical symptoms and types of depression.

This was followed by the formal inauguration of the program, starting with the Welcome Address by Prof (Dr). Raghunath Misra, Organizing Secretary, IAPSM WB Chapter and Prof (Dr) Ramendranarayan Chaudhuri, Organizing President . This was immediately followed by the Presidential Address by Prof Misra, who is also the President, IAPSM WB Chapter and the presentation of the Annual Report of IAPSM WB Chapter for the year 2016-2017 by Secretary Dr Prasanta Ray Karmakar.

Dignitaries invited for the function then addressed the gathering. They included Prof. Debasis Bhattacharya, Director of Medical Education(DME) and Ex-Officio Secretary, Govt of West Bengal, Prof. Bhabatosh Biswas, Vice-Chancellor, West Bengal University of Health Sciences, Prof. Krishangshu Roy, Director, State Institute of Health & Family Welfare, Prof. Ajay Kumar Ray, Director, IPGME&R Kolkata and Prof. Amal Kanti Das, Dean of Student Affairs, IPGME&R Kolkata. Dr. Jayasri Mitra, former DME, Govt of West Bengal and Dean, ESIPGIMSR, Joka. The dignitaries spoke about the importance of the conference theme and the contribution of community medicine professionals in that direction. They emphasized the value of prevention in the wake of ever-increasing healthcare costs and a bourgeoning population.

After the inaugural session, the senior and junior class assistants of all medical colleges in the state were felicitated by the dignitaries, as is the tradition of IAPSM.

Two dedicated sessions, one on Universal Health Coverage and urban health and the other on SDGs and TB situation in Kolkata were held after this. Representatives of WHO India were speakers at both these sessions. Both the sessions were sponsored by WHO Country Office for India.

1. Session on UHC and Urban Health: Current status in India.

   Speaker was Dr. Debasish Roy. He spoke on Universal Health Coverage in the backdrop of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

2. Session on SDGs and TB -situation in Kolkata.

   Dr. Bipra Bishnu, TB Consultant, WHO India was the speaker of the session. Dr. Bishnu very nicely presented the current situation of tuberculosis in the World, India, West Bengal and Kolkata.

The post-conference CME of the 44^th National Conference of IAPSM was a resounding success. It was well attended by over 300 delegates including participants and resource persons from Department of Health and Welfare, Govt. of India and Govt. of West Bengal as well as Research Institutions with a public health mandate.