President’s Report to the IUPESM General Assembly

Introduction

Becoming your President, at the General Assembly in Nice, made an old man very happy. However, the Presidency has been so eventful that it has made a happy man very old!   

The Assembly identified two principal issues to be addressed by Officers and Council. The first was to pursue, for possibly the last time, the long established, but hitherto unfulfilled, aim of becoming a Full Member of the International Council for Science (ICSU) rather than the extant Associate Membership. The second was to establish Key Programmes for IUPESM.

Although strenuous efforts have been made throughout the triennium to keep members informed, this report records progress on these and related issues. It also looks to the future.

Full membership of the ICSU

An application for FULL membership had been submitted six months before the Nice Assembly and a decision was still awaited. Six months after the Assembly, ICSU decided that continuation of Associate Membership was more appropriate at that time.   

Not wishing to accept this decision as final, the President undertook a series of helpful telephone conversations with ICSU's Secretariat. Thereafter, the President and President Elect, Professor Morucci, had a very constructive meeting with the Executive Director of ICSU. Subsequently, the President sent supplementary updated information to ICSU, seeking reconsideration of our application. The Executive Committee of ICSU agreed to consider a new proposal, about 12 months after the Nice Congress.   

In January 1999, with the approval and wholehearted support of Council, the President produced and submitted to ICSU a substantive new application as well as extensive supplementary documentation provided by the Secretary-General.   

Meantime, demonstrating our intention to be an active member, joint participation with ICSU in the World Science Conference was proposed. Your President sent a draft abstract to ICSU. Subsequently, IUPESM was invited to participate in the Conference, which was sponsored by UNESCO and ICSU. Oskar Chomicki and Nandor Richter were our excellent representatives.   

In April 1999, the President and President Elect made presentations of our membership proposal to ICSU’s Scientific Committee on Membership, Structure and Statutes in Paris. Subsequently, the Executive Committee recommended to the General Assembly of ICSU, to be held about 4 months later, that IUPESM be accorded Full Membership. However, it was necessary to receive Letters of Support from, at least, the requisite number of ICSU Unions in order for the proposal to be put to the General Assembly.   

An intensive lobbying of relevant Unions was undertaken by telephone, e-mail and correspondence. Substantially more than the minimum number of Letters of Support was received by ICSU.   

An article by the President of IUPESM, entitled "Caring for the Human Machine into the 21st Century" was published in the June issue of Science International (a journal of ICSU) The journal was distributed at the World Science Congress and to other Unions.   

On 29 September1999, at the General Assembly of ICSU where our representatives were Gary Fullerton and Dov Jaron, IUPESM was unanimously admitted as a full member of ICSU.

Key programmes

In accordance with the Action Plan, adopted by the General Assembly in Nice, Council has formulated and implemented the Key Programmes summarised in Appendix 1. Considerable progress has been made on most of these programmes.   

Under the leadership of the Secretary-General, an excellent start has been made in producing an on-line Textbook of Medical Physics and an Encyclopaedia of Biomedical Engineering.   

The article in Science International and our participation in the World Science Conference were intended to be contributions to our Key Programme on Improving Public Understanding of Science, as well as raising the profile of IUPESM and our professions. A "brochure" is being drafted by Professor Brian Diffey and Professor Alan Murray, who have excellent reputations in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering respectively. It will be well illustrated and describe the contributions of physical and engineering sciences to health care, in terms readily understandable by the general public and politicians. When completed, the "brochure" will be published on the IUPESM website. It will also be produced as a printed glossy version, which can be mailed directly to Ministers of Health, opinion formers and interested members of the public. With the approval of Council, the President formulated and submitted a grant proposal to ICSU, seeking a financial contribution towards its production.   

Less rapid progress has been made on the remaining Key Programmes, which will be re-vitalised.   

The Secretary-General introduced innovative "Virtual Council Meetings" via the Internet, enhancing democracy and collective wisdom. Unfortunately, they necessarily lapsed when other demands on his time had to take precedence. Nevertheless, the concept is commended for the future.

Future of IUPESM

So much for the last (almost) three years! What about the future, including the potential benefits of becoming a Full Member of ICSU?  

 The future of IUPESM is dependent on the wholehearted support of the membership. The active involvement of many more members is essential for several reasons. First, not only is democracy improved but also a wider range of intellect, perceptions and new ideas should result. There are potentially exciting times and opportunities ahead for an invigorated IUPESM, which will demand greater and broader inputs. If IUPESM is to exploit its new potential, the workload is bound to increase and must be shared more widely. During the present triennium, the demands made of Officers and Council Members, all of whom are already extremely busy, have been close to or at overload. Solutions to this problem, which could seriously hamper progress, will be sought during the World Congress.   

New By-Laws will be proposed at the General Assembly, which should provide IUPESM with its own dynamic Committee structure on which to move forward decisively. If approved by the membership, we will need additional enthusiastic and energetic members, young and old to ensure rapid progress. "Ask not what IUPESM can do for you but what you can do for IUPESM".

What are the opportunities for IUPESM?

1. Advancing our Key Programmes

As can be seen below, there is influential approval and even acclaim of those Key Programmes on which we have made progress. The work on our Medical Physics Textbook and Encyclopaedia of Biomedical Engineering needs to be brought to fruition. There is a need to build on our progress on improving Public Understanding of Science and to re-invigorate other Key Programmes. We will have failed at the General Assembly if additional Key Programmes have not been identified and approved.

2. Building on our Full membership of ICSU

Some months ago, the following responses were received from major bodies within ICSU in replies to letters from your President.

1. Committee on Science and Technology in Developing Countries (COSTED) "I am very happy to note…that you have established Key Programmes in relation to Developing Countries. On behalf of COSTED, I welcome opportunities of collaboration between our organisations."
2. Program for Capacity Building in Science (PCBS) "I am very impressed with the outline of your programs, which are far ahead of many of the Union Education Commissions. I believe collaboration is essential to progress."
3. International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP). "It would appear from the information that you have provided that IUPESM is very much eligible for partnership..."

Each of these doors has now been opened and there is a 'Welcome Mat' waiting for us.

ICSU and other Member Unions have a variety of global programmes needing more detailed exploration. There are some in which we should be able to collaborate to mutual benefit. We should also be able to identify others, as we shall try to do in Working Group meetings in Chicago, for eventual proposal to ICSU.

These are just some of the opportunities now available to IUPESM, which we can exploit for our benefit but, more importantly, for health care world-wide.

Summary

This valedictory report has attempted to summarise the significant progress made in this triennium and the potential for IUPESM's future.   

No progress would have been possible without the excellent support, contributions and sustained efforts of our Officers and Council Members as well as many other members of IUPESM. On your behalf, but especially my own, I would like to pay particular tribute and express our deepest thanks to them.   

I could not have chosen a better 'Dream Team' than Jean-Pierre Morucci and Colin Orton to take over the reins of Office at the end of my Presidency. They and IUPESM have my very best wishes for the future.   

It has been a great honour to have served as your President. I am grateful to you all.

Kindest regards,

Keith Boddy,

President IUPESM