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| 2 | 2008
Klinisk Biokemi i Norden
This year I am experiencing spring
twice. The first spring I enjoy-
ed in Antalya, Turkey in mid-
April during the IFCC General
Conference. In Southern Turkey
the spring was beautiful, the trees
had fresh green leaves, the tulips
and other flowers were blooming
and it was comfortably warm.
Upon returning home we were
happy to have the warmest 1st of May for decades, it
was real spring for a couple of days. But now in mid-
May the spring is progressing very slowly in Northern
Finland. The night temperatures are close to zero or
below and we have occasional snow falls. In Lapland
the skiing season is at its best.
IFCC General Conference is held in every three
years, usually during the second year of the three-year
cycle of the IFCC. The participants of this Conference
are members of all the IFCC functional units: The
Executive Board, Division Executive Committees,
Divisional Committees, and possibly some Working
Groups. The purpose of the General Conference is
to present to all the participants the achievements of
the past triennium and the programs for the future.
This allows the members of the various functional
units to hear about all the activities carried out within
the IFCC, and to understand how their efforts fit in
with the other components of the IFCC. The General
Conference is also an opportunity for IFCC officers to
meet with each other and discuss their activities.
National Representatives and CorporateMembers are
also invited to the General Conference. This is a unique
opportunity for them to learn of the IFCC activities and
to meet with each other and the IFCC officers.
The General Conference in Antalya was a success
with more than 230 participants. Most of the partici-
pantsweremembersof the IFCCDivisions,Committees
and Working Groups, but about half of the National
Societies were also represented. During the first two
days of the conference Executive Board and Division
Executive Committees had their meetings. The official
opening ceremonies were on the third day of the confe-
rence and the National Representatives and Corporate
Members were present. This day was the day of reports
of the IFCC officers. The President Jocelyn Hicks and
the Treasurer Ghassan Shannan, the Divisional Chairs
Mauro Panteghini (Scientific Division), Janet Smith
(Education and Management Division), Ellis Jacobs
(Communication and Publication Division) and
Norbert Madry (Corporate Member in the Executive
Board) gave their reports.
There were also three reports on special Task Forces
of the IFCC. Past President Mathias Müller gave a
report on the Integrated IFCC projects. This is a new
Task Force established to improve and maintain the
multidisciplinary and international leadership of IFCC
in standardisation activities. The Scientific Division
and the Education and Management Divisions are
involved in various interesting and important pro-
jects in standardisation and in the area of training,
continuous education and management. Executive
Board has recognized that interaction between these
two Divisions as well as with Communication and
Publications Division lacking. It is quite evident that
the Scientific Division’s standardisation projects have a
significant impact on clinical medicine, but unfortuna-
tely in most cases this important work has been neglec-
ted. The same is true for Education and Management
Division’s projects related to quality of diagnosis,
which is influenced by analytical quality and standar-
disation. Several projects already reflect the multidisci-
plinary character and orientation towards the patient;
cardiac markers, HbA1c, GFR are good examples.
Standardisation will harmonise patient results. Linking
these projects to evidence-based medicine and to clini-
cal guidelines is very important for the acceptability of
IFCC’s status among medical organisations.
IFCC Executive Board decided to form a special
Task Force on Integrated IFCC Projects in its meeting
IFCC NEWS
Päivi Laitinen
E-post: paivi.h.laitinen@ppshp.fi
