Contributed by Prof. Jocelyn M. Hicks, President, IFCC 

The Association of Clinical Biochemists of India (ACBI), a member of IFCC since 1990, with a current membership of more than 1600, represents the clinical biochemistry fraternity of India.
Brief history, objectives and activities:
 ACBI, came into existence during the year 1975 under the leadership of Professor Awadhesh Saran, with the following aims and objectives:

1. To promote improvement in the health and well-being of the communities it serves through improving the development and practice of clinical biochemistry by organizing meetings, congresses, seminars, and symposia.
2. To organize and establish institution/training centres for training Clinical Biochemists and for holding examinations and awarding diplomas.
3. To associate with national and international organizations such as INSA, NAMS, IFCC, APFCB etc.
4. To advise universities, governments and statutory authorities on matters related to Biochemistry including Clinical Biochemistry.
5. To edit and publish journals in Clinical Biochemistry.

ACBI membership is open for teachers, scientists and technologists in the areas of medical sciences in both government and private Sectors.
 Ever since its inception, ACBI has been actively pursuing its goal and also interacting with the similar professional bodies both at the regional and international level and is a founder member of APFCB.
 Some of the notable milestones and achievements of the Association over the years are as follows:

i. At the behest of the ACBI, the Medical Council of India recommended the separation of biochemistry as a separate subject from that of physiology. A separate examination of Biochemistry was introduced into the M.B.B.S. examination from 1977 onwards

ii. In 1978, ACBI resolved to start a Quality Control program for clinical biochemistry. The department of Clinical Biochemistry of CMCH, Vellore, one of the premier medical institutes of India, was assigned the responsibility. Since then the Quality Control program, under the name ACBI/CMCH Vellore, the first of its kind in Indian subcontinent, has been successfully catering to the need of clinical biochemistry laboratories. As on now, 1705 laboratories of both public and private undertakings participate in this QC program.

iii. Since 1980, the Association has been publishing a News Bulletin, twice annually, as a means of communication amongst its members.
iv. The Indian Journal of Clinical Biochemistry (IJCB), the official journal of ACBI  was started during the year 1990. Since then the journal is published regularly.

iv. ACBI, in keeping with the principle of promoting quality diagnostic services, was the first professional body in India to plan for the accreditation for clinical diagnostic laboratories. Meanwhile, the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India, took up this task of accreditation through its special wing namely the National Accreditation Board for Laboratories (NABL). In view of this new development,  instead of pursuing its own accreditation program for laboratories, the members of ACBI have been extending the expertise to NABL to promote the accreditation of clinical laboratories in India.

v. ACBI, in pursuance of recognizing and honouring the contributions made in the field of laboratory medicine, has instituted several awards, the notable one being the Awadhesh Saran Memorial Award named after Professor Awadhesh Saran, the founder President of  our Association. In addition to this, several awards, for young scientists for their  contributions in areas of clinical biochemistry,  have also been  instituted.

vi. In view of bringing academia and industries together to give an added impetus to the growth and practice of clinical biochemistry, during the year 2002, ACBI  constituted a separate corporate wing, referred to as ACBI-Corporate Wing, the first of its kind in any of the professional bodies in Indian subcontinent. Since then ACBI-CW is actively pursuing the issues related to diagnostic services.

ACBI has been successful in fulfilling many of the objectives, in particular the improvement in teaching, diagnostics and research in the areas of clinical biochemistry in India, including publishing the Indian Journal of Clinical Biochemistry. Apart from holding regular annual meetings, ACBI has successfully organized the  9th APCCB Congress in 2002. ACBI, in association with government agencies such as ICMR, DST, DBT and CSIR is also conducting training courses for Quality Control, Accreditation, and Newer Techniques in Laboratory Medicine. Recently, courses on special topics in clinical biochemistry are being offered through out the country. Currently, ACBI is interacting with the other professional bodies of laboratory medicine in India to address the areas of common concern/interest pertaining to the practice of laboratory medicine in its right perspective.

With ongoing accreditation of medical laboratories, led by the National Accreditation Board for Laboratories (NABL), under the aegis of Department of Science and Technology, Government of India; the quality of diagnostic services available is comparable to the best of its kind anywhere in the world. ACBI as a professional body and its members are in the forefront in the areas of Quality Control and Accreditation of medical diagnostic facilities in this part of the world.

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ABOUT INDIA

India is the largest democracy in the world with the current population exceeding one billion. Ancient India, referred to as �Bharath Varsha', was the cradle of Indus civilization and eastern mysticism. Apart from Hinduism, several religious thoughts such as Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism had their origin from this land of mysticism.

As it happened in later years, other religions such as Christianity and Islam also found their way to Indian subcontinent. Historically, earlier to the advent of British during the early 17th century, the  Indian subcontinent including the present day Pakistan and Bangla Desh, extending from the present Afghanistan, Burma and Srilanka was ruled by several emperors with boundaries dictated by the military prowess of the then prevailing kingdoms. After its independence from British during the year 1947, India as a nation of diverse socio-cultural identities, multi-linguistics and different religious faiths with the underlying philosophy of �unity in diversity', has made tremendous progress in science and technology and achieved self-sufficiency in agricultural products.

 In recent time, India has become a hub of IT and BPO industries. A member of the exclusive �space club', India has effectively employed space technology for weather forecasting, mapping the underground resources and telecommunication networking. India is one among very few countries to introduce telemedicine as an initiative to allow modern medicine to reach inaccessible regions of its vast territory. 

A very recent phenomenon in India is the fast growing health industry which has already started to attract patients from neighbouring countries in the region and is likely, to be the near future, health destination from the rest of the world. Along with the growing health industry, there has been tremendous growth of medical diagnostics of small, medium and corporate run establishments and many of them have already listed for out sourcing from other countries.