History and Perspectives of AOFNMB

Article type: Editorial In response to the historic document known as the Pisa Declaration in 1967, the Asia and Oceania Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology (AOFNMB) was inaugurated provisionally in October 1969 in Tokyo at a gathering of 21 delegations from the nine member countries and regions. The Second assembly of the AOFNMB was held in Tokyo in 1974 during the first World Congress of Nuclear Medicine and Biology (WCNMB), while Sydney was decided to be the hosting city of the first congress. The first Asia and Oceania Congress of Nuclear Medicine and Biology (AOCNMB) was held successfully in Sydney in September 1976. Prof. IPC (Provan) Murray was the Conve-nor of the meeting and Dr. Andrew McLaughlin was the Treasurer. There were 200 attendees at the meeting. The Congress was opened by ringing the congress bell once, which has become a tradition as a symbol of continuity. The congress bell was donated by the Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine (JSNM) and every congress is opened by ringing the bell the number of times according to the order of the AOCNMB. It was the first international congress of medicine in Korea led by Prof. Munho Lee as the president, Prof. Chang-Soon Koh as the secretary general, and Prof. Myung-Chul Lee as the secretary. Approximately 700 attendants from 25 countries attended the congress. A workshop of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the quality assurance of nuclear medicine instruments was followed as a post-congress program at the Agency-a co-sponsor of the congress-mentioned that he identified three fronts on which progress will need to be made in marching forward to the next century, namely, reducing the cost of nuclear medicine products and services , sustaining the quality to make it more competitive, demonstrating appropriateness, and emerging as a complementary and competing modality of investigation. The seventh congress in conjunction with the 4th International Congress of Nuclear Oncology was held in Istan-bul, Turkey under the auspices of the 9th Turkish Republic President his Excellency Suleyman Demirel on October