The Moroccan Society of Clinical Chemistry
Contributed By Edgard Delvin, eNewsletter Editor
Council Members. From the left: Mohammed Touimi-Benjelloun, Secretary General, Hicham Elannaz, Member, Abdelrhafour Guedira Vice President, Layachi Chabraoui , President, Youssef Bamou, Treasurer, Sanae Bouhssaine, member, Youssef Ala, Associate Secretary General.
The Moroccan Society of Clinical Chemistry held its 10th annual meeting (10ièmes Journées Nationales de Biologie Clinique) under the auspices of IFCC in the historical Marrakech situated at the foothills of the snow-capped Atlas mountain range. The Society Council Members have to be commended not only for the scientific program, but also for the Social and cultural aspects of the event. The symposia offered an array of subjects ranging from cardiovascular diseases to laboratory accreditation.
Professor Aziz Radi from Rabat opened the meeting by a masterful conference on the role of gerontology and geriatrics in the health management of the elderly. It was followed, in the course of the next 2 days, by 7 symposia ranging form diagnosis of dysglobulinemia, gammopathies of undetermined significance to the molecular diagnosis of infectious and haemostatic diseases, and the metabolic syndrome in paediatrics.
The symposium bearing on the reform of the practice of medical biology and laboratory accreditation being of worldwide interest is particularly worth of comments. Drs. Layachi Chabraoui, President of the Moroccan Society of Clinical Chemistry, and Bernard Gouget, IFCC Executive Board Member, coordinated this symposium that covered many aspects of the process. Drs. Michel Ballereau, Anne-Marie Gallot and Élodie Benhayoun, from the French Ministry of Helath, explained clearly the process of converting the role of the laboratory from a test provider to medical advisor. Dr. Daniel Pierre, President of ILAC and Executive Director of COFRAC, explained the role and mission of ILAC in the process of clinical laboratory accreditation. Finally, Ms Khadija Meshak and Mr Abdellah Nejjar, respectively from the Moroccan Ministry of Health and of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Novel Technologies, summarized the evolution of the field of medical biology and the clinical laboratory accreditation process in Morocco.
I cannot close without mentioning the warm hospitality and friendship shown to the delegates by the Council Members and all our Moroccan colleagues.