The Sickle Cell Disease International Organisation (SCDIO) continues its programme of international conferences every 2 years with a meeting in central India to be held in Raipur, the capital of Chhatisgarh State from November 22-27, 2010. Exactly 100 years since the first formal description of sickle cell disease in the international literature, this conference will draw attention to sickle cell disease as a public health problem in India and the many programmes developed by Indian colleagues to provide services and education for affected families.