The first few months of 2007 have been busy ones. During this period a commitment has been obtained from Ortho Clinical Diagnostics to fund an IFCC Conference every two years for a total of ten years.  The overall title of the Conference is �Diagnostics and the Clinical Laboratory.� The specific title of the first such Conference (2008) will be decided in early June in Amsterdam at the EuroMedLab Congress.

I am also happy to announce an annual contribution from Abbott Laboratories that will enable the IFCC to broaden the scope of the Visiting Lecture Program to all parts of the globe every year. The original commitment is for four years, but I am hopeful that Abbott Laboratories will continue this commitment for additional years. I am also continuing to work with the clinical diagnostics industry to fund other important programs for the IFCC.

The first few months of 2007 have been busy ones. During this period a commitment has been obtained from Ortho Clinical Diagnostics to fund an IFCC Conference every two years for a total of ten years.  The overall title of the Conference is �Diagnostics and the Clinical Laboratory.� The specific title of the first such Conference (2008) will be decided in early June in Amsterdam at the EuroMedLab Congress.

I am also happy to announce an annual contribution from Abbott Laboratories that will enable the IFCC to broaden the scope of the Visiting Lecture Program to all parts of the globe every year. The original commitment is for four years, but I am hopeful that Abbott Laboratories will continue this commitment for additional years. I am also continuing to work with the clinical diagnostics industry to fund other important programs for the IFCC.

Thus far this year I have visited Egypt and Tunisia on behalf of the IFCC. IFCC will be heavily involved in the EuroMedLab Conference in Amsterdam in early June. All of the Divisions of the IFCC will be meeting and setting forth their plans for the future. The Executive Board (EB) will be meeting immediately prior to the Congress.

The first EB meeting of 2007 was held in my home city of Washington, DC, where the attendees encountered, within a few days, a heat-wave and sleet and rain. The final dinner was held at my home, where I prepared an Italian dinner!

The reporting of HbA1c results has also been a matter of interest. This subject was debated at some length a �summit meeting� held in Milan with representatives from the IFCC, the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the European Association for the Study of Diabetes  (EASD), and later the International Diabetes Foundation (IDF). The group agreed that the best strategy for a change should involve a coordinated transition at the international level.
The consensus statement is shown below.

1. We agree that the HbA1c results should be standardized worldwide, including the reference system and results reporting.
2. We agree that the IFCC reference system for HbA1c represents the only valid anchor to implement standardization of the measurement.
3. We agree that the HbA1c results be reported worldwide in IFCC units (mmol/mol) and derived National Glycohemoglobin Standardization Program (NGSP) units (%) using the IFCC-NGSP master equation.
4. We agree that, if the ongoing �average� plasma glucose study fulfills its a priori specified criteria, an HbA1c-derived estimated average plasma glucose (APG) value could also be reported as an interpretation of the HbA1c result.
5. We recommend that all clinical guidelines be expressed in IFCC units, derived NGSP units, and APG.
6. We agree that these recommendations should be implemented globally as soon as possible.  

We think that this Agreement may further contribute to the process of the worldwide comparability of HbA1c results, paralleling the progress in scientific knowledge on the analytical and biochemical aspects with better care for patients.

The signatories to the Agreement are: