Dear Colleagues:

I wish our readers a happy, healthy and successful 2007, and peace worldwide.

It is difficult to believe that I have completed the first year of my term as President of the IFCC.  I suppose that the old adage, �time passes quickly when you�re having fun� applies to my experience as well.

The past year has been a challenging and exciting period. The IFCC Executive Board created a mission statement for the organization, and developed a vision for the future. Our mission statement starts off with the words, �Our mission is to be the leading organization in the field of clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine worldwide.� The full mission statement may be found at our website, www.ifcc.org.

We developed our vision by prioritizing our ideas, as follows:

- Integration

 Implement Integration of all of our projects among our Scientific (SD), Education and Management (EMD), Communications and Publications (CPD), and our Congress and Conference (CCD) divisions. For example, if a new scientific standard is recommended by the SD, the EMD will assist with educational sessions designed to explain the new standard to IFCC�s Members, the CPD will assure that the new scientific standard gets worldwide publicity on the web and elsewhere, and the CCD will assure that there are sessions at congresses and conferences that will deal with the new standard. Prof. Mathias M�ller (Past President) and Dr. Michael Thomas (EB member) are working on a specific example to demonstrate how helpful such integration will be to our member Associations. 

- Improvement of public relations

We realize that we must work more diligently to make members of our Member Associations more aware of our activities. It is also important that we make clinicians and the public worldwide aware of the IFCC and what it does for their benefit. Drs. Paivi Laitinen (IFCC Secretary) and Norbert Madry (EB Corporate Member) are working together with our CPD on this activity.

- Education

The World Health Organization has recently presented data showing that currently 80% of medical diagnoses are made on the basis of laboratory tests. It is clear, therefore, that we must develop a program of �targeted education� that will involve not only our Member Associations, but also clinicians and the lay public. We must develop more specialized activities, such as evidence-based medicine. We must develop more monographs on such targeted programs.  Prof. Vladimir Palicka (IFCC Vice-President) and Dr. Ghassan Shannan (IFCC Treasurer) lead this effort.

- Assisting Developing Countries

One of the most crucial needs of such countries is improvement in analytical quality.  The EMD is in the process of developing a strategic plan for how this goal may be achieved. Money has been set aside in the IFCC budget to implement this activity. Once high analytical quality has been achieved, we can then assist in accreditation efforts.

As part of this activity, we hope to strengthen our Visiting Lecturer Program and our Professional Scientific Exchange Programme. These programmes are especially helpful to developing nations to learn about new and better approaches in clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine.

A major challenge to the IFCC has been the acceptance of its science-based recommendation for glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and its implementation worldwide. While the IFCC continues to stress that analytical valid methods and units must be used, it must also appreciate the views of the clinicians who will have to incorporate a new test into their practice and explain new units to their patients. It is imperative therefore, that the IFCC work with clinicians to assist them in introducing IFCC recommended new standards.

The greatest pleasure of my Presidency thus far has been working with an extremely able, helpful and supportive Executive Board and with the very competent Division Chairs, and visiting many of our Member Countries or Regions.  I not only attended annual congresses in Brazil, Croatia, France Mexico, Paraguay, Spain, and Syria, but in many cases also conferred with their executive boards on future cooperative activities.

Last, but not least, please be sure to attend at least one of these congresses and conferences in 2007: EuroMedLab in Amsterdam June 3-7; the Balkan meeting in Antalya, Turkey (Sept. 4-7); the Asian-Pacific Federation of Clinical Chemistry Congress in Beijing (October 14-19); the Latin American Congress of Clinical Biochemistry in Panama Nov. 28-Dec 1.

The photograph above shows all of the members of the Executive Board, standing at the back.

These are all elected by the National Representatives from your country�s Society or Association.

They are from left to right: Dr. Michael Thomas, Member (UK), Mr. Joseph Lopez, Member (MY),

Dr. Ghassan Shannan, Treasurer (SY), Prof. Mathias M�ller, Past-President (AT), Prof. Vladimir Palicka, Vice-President (CZ), Prof. Jocelyn Hicks, President, (US), Dr P�ivi Laitinen, Secretary, (FI), Dr. Norbert Madry, Corporate Member (DE), Prof. Daniel Mazziotta, Member, (AR).

Sitting in the front are the Division Chairs. These are all appointed by the Executive Board.

They are from left to right: Dr. Ellis Jacobs, Chair, Communications and Publications Division, (US), Prof. Mauro Panteghini, Chair, Scientific Division, (IT), Ms. Janet Smith, Chair, Education and Management Division, (UK), Dr. Albert Fraser, Chair, Congress and Conference Division.

This Photograph was taken at the Executive Board meeting in Milan, Italy in November, 2006. It is customary to invite the Division Chairs to the last EB meeting each year to report on their Division�s activities and to work with them on the following year�s budget.