January 1, 2006 marked a very important
day in my life as I assumed the Presidency of the IFCC. I am both
delighted by the opportunity and awed by the responsibility. I
follow many successful Past Presidents.
My major goals are to keep constant or to
improve upon the very important current scientific activities and
to work diligently on improving the quality of laboratory results
worldwide. This is a critical effort in order that patients are
diagnosed correctly and treated appropriately. There are many
laboratories in developing nations that do not use quality control
materials to ensure accuracy of results. Some developing, and even
some developed, nations have no accreditation program. It is
clearly impossible to solve all of these problems during my tenure
as President, but with the help of my colleagues in the IFCC I
expect to develop programs to effect some positive changes. Dr.
Thomas Whitehead, who sadly died recently, was a pioneer in these
areas. He set up quality control programs in Mexico and Thailand. I
hope to expand on his important work.
As we are all aware, several natural
disasters have occurred recently. These include the tsunamis in
Asia, hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the United States, mudslides
in Guatemala, and earthquakes in Pakistan and India. Disasters such
as these are accompanied by disease and nutritional challenges. In
addition, there are major pandemics that are occurring, such as
SARS, Avian flu and the ongoing scourge of HIV infections. In the
case of SARS, laboratories in Australia and Asia responded quickly
to bring appropriate testing to affected areas. As a global
federation in laboratory medicine, we need to be prepared to help
in the appropriate testing for AIDS and assisting local
laboratories in achieving high standards. Sometimes, all that may
be necessary is to develop connections to other areas in the world
that need assistance.
Communication is always considered to be
an issue in any business, whether it is in industry or in a
hospital. Communication, by definition, is a
two-way process. In the IFCC, we must work hard
to achieve this. I will commit to making sure that National
Representatives, Presidents of our Member Associations and
Societies and our corporate partners are kept informed of what the
IFCC is doing. I invite all of you to
communicate with members of our Executive Board and our
Divisions.
During my first year in office, I plan to
develop a set of goals with the Executive Board, and I will
communicate these to all members of the IFCC. I hope to have
feedback from all of you. I have an excellent Board with which to
work; we represent all parts of the world. The Past President is
Austrian, the Vice President is from the Czech Republic, the
Secretary is from Finland, the Treasurer is a
Syrian, the Corporate Member is from Germany,
and the three At-Large members are from Argentina, Malaysia and the
United Kingdom.
I wish everyone a healthy and successful
2006.
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