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Towards a Permanent Secretariat of ALASBIMN
On December, 2005 during the General Delegate Assembly of Alasbimn that took place in Punta del Este, Uruguay within the XX Congress, a proposal for the establishment of a permanent secretariat for our association was unanimously approved. The fundamentals of this proposal are clear, based on the necessity for maintaining centralized information and documentation, thus keeping some continuity between congresses whose organization by the local society of the host country is practically the only activity of Alasbimn. Anyone ever involved in the organization of an Alasbimn congress perfectly knows the difficulties in having a complete and timely transfer of data, documents and even funds from one host country to the next one. This has been achieved with variable degrees of efficiency, however always associated with some penury - sometimes astonishingly extreme. This recurrent fact uncovers severe communication problems among us: we almost never know who the authorities of the local societies are or how to contact them, and the lists of members - rarely updated - seem to be unintentionally kept like secret treasures. We ignore basic statistical data such as the number of nuclear medicine professionals in each country, their academic degree, number, type and geographical distribution of departments, available equipment, types of procedures performed, etc. Also, there are no databases of commercial companies, that could represent potential sponsors of Alasbimn activities or events. We know little about local problems that have to be faced and solved in order for the specialty to expand, its development being quite inhomogeneous across the region. And the list can grow up even more, paradoxically during a time when communications technology has come to an unprecedented development. The Alasbimn Journal is the only official way to establish a certain degree of formal contact between us. There is a feeling that we have not been adequately supporting the generous and efficient task that the Editorial Board of the Journal has been carrying out.
Nevertheless, the Alasbimn congress always come to an end successfully and the blood, sweat and tears are then wiped out by brilliant moments where science and friendship are briefly merged together to make such an effort worthy enough, then giving way to the start of a new cycle. Alasbimn then enters an 'hibernation' period that lasts for 24 months. In the meanwhile, its basal metabolism is supported by sporadic activities hardly able to maintain the vital signs which can be only detected through a very careful physical examination. Maybe all this can be explained by our own characteristics, way of being or however it may be called. But the truth is that, by recognizing the situation, we should be capable of creating the appropriate tools in order to make our organization more dynamic and professional, thus contributing more efficiently to the development of nuclear medicine which is one fundamental commitment of Alasbimn.
A permanent secretariat would not have a political role but it would rather hold administrative functions, facilitating the execution of political decisions and projects emanated from Alasbimn authorities and members. Its obligations would be well defined and would make Alasbimn to stop constitute - as it has happened until now - a practically virtual organization. As is the case of the SNM (secretariat in Reston, Virginia) or the EANM (secretariat in Vienna, Austria), the headquarters would represent a physical site where to keep central information and databases and from where to establish contacts with members as well as with external organizations, institutions, and individuals. A permanent secretariat would keep updated records about all abovementioned aspects including lists of member societies, would gather information on surveys performed about procedures and other details of interest, establish contact with the industry and facilitate the linking to other scientific societies. Also, it would provide supporting infrastructure for the different Alasbimn committees and for the organization of scientific events beyond the biannual congress, just to speak about the least ambitious objectives. An additional number of potential benefits would include editorial and educational duties, and even coordination of multicentric research activities as well as maintenance of the Alasbimn website.
We know this is not an easy task. A viable and self-sustainable project would be necessary for which everybody's input will be invaluable. We start from a solid foundation represented by the support of the General Delegates Assembly to this idea, which should materialize after the next Alasbimn congress in Bolivia 2007. As Prof. Ignasi Carrió - EANM president - says, "It is the only way of having a professional organization. In any case, the transition from an 'amateur' organization, based on the dedication of its temporary members, to a professional, permanent structure is not always exempt of tensions and conflicts".
The challenge is posed and we are convinced that with the active participation of all of us we will be able to meet it successfully.
Dr. Fernando Mut
President, Uruguayan Society of Biology and Nuclear Medicine
Montevideo, Uruguay
fmut@adinet.com.uy
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