Executive
Board

The

133rd Meeting Executive Board
Durban (South Africa), October 20th-21st, 2017

Minutes
Participants:
EB Members
Maurizio Ferrari
Howard Morris
Sergio Bernardini
Tomris Ozben
Rosa Sierra-Amor
Vanessa Steenkamp
Rolf Hinzmann

(MF)
(HM)
(SB)
(TO)
(RSA)
(VS)
(RH)

President
President-electSecretary
Treasurer
MemberMemberCorporate Representative (Roche)

Invited guests
David Kinniburgh(DK)

NAFCC President

1

The 133rd Meeting of the IFCC Executive Board was held in Durban (ZA), at the “Hilton Hotel” - meeting room
Lotheni 1.
Preliminaries
1.0
Welcome and opening remarks from President
1.1.132 Minutes of 132nd EB Meeting, Milano
EB approved the Full Minutes and the Summary Minutes from the 132nd Meeting.

2. Full Member Societies
EB noted the merging of Ukrainian Full and Affiliate Member Societies as “Association of Clinical Chemistry
and Laboratory Medicine of Ukraine (ACCLMU)" and approved waiving of USCLD outstanding dues 2015-2016.
EB appreciated admission as new Full Members “Belarus Society of Clinical Laboratory Diagnosticians”,“Colegio Nacional de Laboratorístas Clínicos de Panamá” and “Palestine Medical Technology AssociationPMTA”
EB noted that that a request had been received from the Honduras Full member society (“Colegio deMicrobiólogos y Químicos Clínicos de Honduras”) to remain as a Full Member despite not paying the calculated
outstanding dues; EB decided that the dues should be recalculated based on an updated submission of numberof members of the Honduran National Society.

4. Affiliate Members
EB discussed the disparity between dues for Full and Affiliate members with particular attention to the Nepalese
Full and Affiliate Societies. HM suggested a change to the IFCC Rules be considered to calculate the fees ofAffiliate Members by membership and considering their social economic status. MF suggested to apply thesame method that is in use to calculate the Full Member fees with a fix discount (20%). A proposal will bepresented by HM, MF and TO at the next EB. The Nepal Affiliate Member’s fees were suspended until the nextEB.
EB approved the application of "Lab Medicine Committee, branch of China Association of Medical Equipment”
as an Affiliate Member. This organization represents a Committee of the China Scientific Lab. Association; theirindividual corporate members become individual CMs of IFCC. RH raised some concern that with so many
Chinese CMs, the traditional CMs would be a minority within IFCC thus disadvantaging for the biggest
companies with regard to their influence within the IFCC as a result of the current policy “one company-one
vote”. EB decided to consider this concern in the future strategic plan.

3. Corporate Members
3.0
RH report
Since the last Council Meeting, four companies joined IFCC while 13 resigned. Two other companies (Sonic
Healthcare and Philips) have announced their intention to terminate their membership at the end of 2017. The
perception of CMs is that the major benefit for CMs in IFCC is the discount at exhibition rates and this does notencourage the membership for those who do not exhibit. It is relevant to discuss how IFCC can be more
attractive for CMs. Although this topic has been discussed several times no real progress has been made overthe past 3 years. Together with the changes related to the MedTech Europe code taking effect in January 2018
this apparent lack of interest within the IFCC EB poses the largest financial challenge to the organization.
Starting January 2018 direct sponsorship of speakers and delegates by the industry will no longer be permitted.
Companies are not so much in favour of indirect sponsorship and are more confident in organizing their own
educational symposia, including new ways of scientific communication such as webinars. The industry has theopinion that medical education is important, however, there are several topics that need to be discussed: (1) Do
we need all conferences? If not, what are the priorities? (2) Will company exhibitions / satellite symposia stillplay a major role when the number of conference delegates is declining? (3) How to make sure that conferences
are priced appropriately and that the perceived value is so large that many delegates choose to pay bythemselves? Can overhead cost / non-education-related cost be reduced? (4) How to make sure that education
reaches the appropriate target group and that delegates attend most of the lectures during the conference? (5)Conferences do not only have an educational aspect but also constitute a business model (source of income)for professional societies. This adds to the cost. Does the business model have to be adapted? With regard tothese questions the industry is expecting proposals from IFCC (and the professional societies in general).
HM: If the contributions of CMs to conferences are going to be reduced, should the costs to participate other
IFCC activities such as scientific projects undertaken by the Committees and the WG be increased?
MF: IFCC should differentiate the activities offered to CMs depending from their characteristics and interests.

215. Financial Matters
15.1
Treasurer’s Report (TO)2017 January – September budget update. Income (actual): 715.138 CHF (expected) 1.053.500 CHF) including
receipt of 98% of Full members’ dues, 96% of Corporate members’ dues, 100% of Affiliate members’ dues.
Expenditure actual: 710.184 CHF (expected 1.779.155 CHF).
Credit Suisse total available cash: 843.662 CHF.
EB noted the treasurer’s update on 2017 Credit Suisse investments: actual 4.05% return (net of fees and taxes
3.65%).
TO alerted the EB to financial difficulties in 2018 as a result of a reduction of income (no major conference will
be held in 2018) and increased expenditure (the General Conference will be held).
TO recommends a full external audit of the budgets of IFCC Congresses and Conferences organized by the
IFCC in particular the WorldLab and the EuroMedLab instead of a random auditing. The EB will ask for more
information from MZ about the type and level of the l auditing process: Stefano Montalbetti stated that from
EuroMedLab Barcelona (2019) and onwards a full audit will be mandatory because of new rules.
EB agreed that financial sustainability will be an important issue for the next EB considering the challenge ofthe application of the EU Med-Tech Code.
New Division: “Emerging Technologies Division (ETD)”
EB approved the following nominations for the EC: Ronda Greaves, Damien Gruson, Paolo Fortina, and Peng
Yin (Abbott) and Markus Roessler (Roche), the last two as CM representatives.
Updates by the EB TF liaisons13.01.01 Task Force on Ethics (TF-E) – liaison MF
Achievements during 2017: the ethics teaching modules "Pearls" for Clinical Chemistry Trainee Council website
has been created. "Ethical Issues in Biobanking" by Ann Gronowski & Gwen Clark was completed and is now
posted on the CCTC website. The Pearl has been shared with IFCC to post on the IFCC website. "Ethical Issue
in Laboratory Medicine" Symposium was presented at the EuroMedLab meeting, Athens 2017. Symposiumincluded three talks: "A primer in biomedical ethics", Ann M. Gronowski; "Ethics in publishing", Nader Rifai;"Case studies in ethics in laboratory medicine", Trefor Higgins. Updated TF-Ethics website. TF-Ethics held acommittee meeting in Athens during WorldLab
Plans for 2017: create a survey to send all IFCC member societies regarding their current ethics documents
and future needs regarding ethics. Survey will request society documents on COI, code of ethics & relationshipwith industry. TF will then review all documents and create a list of suggested elements for each as a guide formember societies wishing to create their own documents. Create Ethics "toolbox" for Member Societies (startingwith example COI and code of ethics from member societies) based on results from above survey.
A new chair is needed because A Gronowski will become EB member starting from January 2018.
13.01.02 Task Force on Paediatric Laboratory Medicine (TF-PLM)
HM reported on the success of the Durban ICPLM, the 24th international congress in this series, with attendanceof approximately 95 delegates. The current Chair, Dr Michael Metz, was unable to attend this Congress due toill health and ends his term at the end of the year. The Deputy Chair, Dr Tim Lang, is available and isrecommended as the next Chair.
13.01.03 Task Force on Pharmacogenomics (TF-PG) – liaison MF
No other items to discuss
13.01.04 Task Force on Chronic Kidney Disease (TF-CKD) – liaison RSA
No other items to discuss
13.01.06 Task Force for Young Scientists (TF-YS) – liaison VS
The TF organized the IFCC-TFYS Functional Meet Open Session “Young Scientists Workforce - Exchange ofExperience" at the EuroMedLab Athens to discuss the functionality of TF-YS, obstacles that YS are facing,and reporting on past events and future programmes. The importance on YS being connected on a global basis
and expanding the YS network and knowledge in all areas of Laboratory Medicine were emphasized.
An IFCC-TFYS Symposium will be held at WorldLab in Durban titled “ISO accreditation & Quality Assurance”
with the following talks: Dr Pradeep Dabla, Understanding external quality assessment & internal quality control;
Dr Guilaine Boursier, Quality management system for laboratory accreditation; Ms Serah Plaifa, Stepwise
approach to lab accreditation in Africa; Prof Rajiv Erasmus, Status of lab accreditation in South Africa; Round
Table Discussion and exchange

3The TFYS is grateful to the IFCC, WorldLab congress organizers as well as associations for providing thescholarships for the young scientists to attend this ‘first for Africa’ event. An excess of 100 YS are expected toattend this congress.
13.01.07 Task Force on Clinical Applications of Cardiac Biomarkers (TF-CB) – liaison TO
Educational materials describing the properties of high sensitivity cardiac troponin activities were produced,
including a poster and a mouse pad. At each of the IFCC Athens and AACC San Diego meetings, 3000 posters
and 1000 mouse pads were distributed to attendees at the IFCC booth.
The TF completed the first of 2 tasks regarding updating educational tables for both cardiac troponin assays
and natriuretic peptide tables. Three tables were posted in June for high sensitivity, contemporary and POC
troponin assays, representing commercial package inserts globally on our webpage. These tables will bereferenced as a link to the ‘Fourth Universal Definition of Myocardial
Infarction’ paper that will be published next spring 2018. A fourth table on natriuretic peptides was posted inAugust. The TF established a joint venture with the AACC Academy, to draft updated educational guidelines
regarding cardiac troponin, which has resulted in a manuscript that is under review at Clinical Chemistry. At theDecember 2017 meeting in London, manuscript preparations will begin for two papers addressing thecharacteristics of the tables (troponin and NP) posted on the IFCC website. The Chair has submitted proposals
to the 2018 IFCC meeting in Barcelona and the 2018 AACC meeting in Chicago, to present TF-CB activities.
The Chair has been in communication with the Chair of the POCT group (Chair Rosy Tirimacco), to improve theharmonization of cardiac biomarker educational documents and educational materials. Rosy will be invited to
the December meeting in London. The TF has a 2017-2018 goal of developing a smart-phone APP to assist
laboratorians and clinicians in better understanding cardiac biomarker assays based on data contained in the
web-based tables and published educational documents in collaboration with the IFCC office and industry
colleagues. This is a high priority agenda item for December meeting.
13.01.08 Task Force on POCT (TF-POCT) – liaison RSA
EB received an update by HM, as per recent contacts with Chair. Rosy Tirimacco requesting a 12 months
extension to find the new Chair and nominate two members, EB agreed.
13.01.11 Task Force on Proficiency Testing (TF-PT) – liaison RSA
Achievements during 2017: the PT database has been updated by the organizations already included andamended by new PT providers listing their schemes; as for today there are 66 providers from all around theworld registered in the PT-DB with the latest additions being from Mexico (2 providers), Russian Federation,
Iran and India. The PT-DB can be consulted directly at http://ptdb.ifcc.org/providers. During the EuroMedLab2017 congress in Athens the members of the TF-PT had their fourth annual meeting. During this meeting it was
decided to start development and implementation of the “A”nalytes section and to start adding all the common
analytes from the already registered EQA-PT providers and to ask for the inclusion of the link to the PT-DB
project on the first page of the IFCC website. During the EuroMedLab 2017 congress in Athens the symposium
on EQA-PT issues entitled: “External quality assurance - just a necessary evil or a valuable tool in laboratory
management?” was co-organized with the EQALM. Plans for 2018: after the implementation of the document
describing all the fields required for the creation of an “A”nalyte record and documenting this procedure, thedevelopment of the “A”nalytes database will be started by InSoft.
At the same time the TF-PT with the help and cooperation of the InSoft will start the development of e-documentson the use of the database - web application (manuals).
13.01.12 Special Project on History
No items to discuss
13.01.13 Task Force for Geriatrics Lab. Medicine (TF -GLM) – liaison SB
No other items to discuss
13.02 Professional Exchange Programmes
EB noted the update on PSEP and PMEP applications. PSEP: Eyob Abera Mesfin (Ethiopia), Marie Lenski(France), Cristina Bailén Ruìz (Spain). PMEP: Lara Popoola Omalara (Nigeria)-postponed, Ronald Khunga(Malawi), Ledina Mino (Albania). Allocated budget 2017: 40000 CHF, funds still available in 2017: 19493 CHF.
EB agreed to better promote the PEPs.
13.03 Roche Travel Scholarships
EB received an update on scholarships awarded to attend WordLab and confirmed by Roche: Ahmed Ibrahim
Abulsoud (Egypt), Feyssa Challa Waka (Ethiopia), Elena Maria Zamora Marroquin (Guatemala), Parama

4Benerjee (India), Geoffrey Amuka Omuse (Kenya), Akimwumi Tosin Ogundajio (Nigeria), Narayan Gautam(Nepal), Binod Kumar Yadav (Nepal), Yassine Chaabouni (Tunisia), Adon Chawe (Zambia), Adon Makura(Zimbabwe).
Other Scholarships:
Jocelyn Hicks’ Scholarships: Prasenjit Mitra (India), Ngoc Lan Thi Ngoc Nguyen (Vietnam), Evelyn Mulwa(Kenya) and Victor Daka (Zambia)
IFCC WorldLab Scholarships:
Granted applications fror Ethiopia (7), Kenya (5), Malawi (2), Nigeria (28), Zambia (3), Zimbabwe 7, South Africa(27), Morocco (1), Tunisia (1), India (3), Indonesia (1), Nepal (2), Pakistan (2), Palestine (1).
EB note with thank following IFCC National Societies’ support to IFCC WorldLab Scholarships:
France-SFCB: Malawi (1); Australia-AACB: Malawi (1), Zimbabwe (2), South Africa (2); Canada-CSCC: Nigeria(1), Zimbabwe (1); Saudi Arabia-SSCC: Zambia (1); USA-AACC: Zambia (2); UK-ACB: Zimbabwe (1);Germany-DGKL: Zimbabwe (2), Malaysia-MACB: South Africa (1).

8. Scientific Division (SD)---EB received an update by Philippe Gillery (SD Chair). SD has been contacted by the Chinese Reference
Materials Organization (NIFDC) which would like to collaborate with IFCC-SD about molecular diagnostic
traceability and standardization with the IFCC having NIFDC representation in the appropriate IFCC
functional Unit. This organization is not part of the CLSM, the Chinese national society member of IFCC. HM
and MF suggested the possibility that a representative from the NIFDC become a consultant on the SD EC
or an appropriate WG of SD.
PG proposed a new Committee on bone metabolism starting from 2019 which should merge the WG-PTH
and the WG–SBMA. The WG-BMA and WG-PTH will remain independent WG’s during in 2018 and the
Chairmanship of Cathie Sturgeon (WG-PTH) will be extended for one year. EB agreed. In 2019 this new C
will also undertake work in collaboration with the Vitamin D Standardization Program (VDSP) and will
incorporate the WG-VitD which will be established for just 1 year in 2018.
SD recommend to maintain the WG-CTD even though a paper on standardization has recently been
published, this WG has been funded and does not require IFCC financial support. EB agreed.
EB noted the changes in the membership of the SD functional units proposed by PG: WG-CDT: new chair:
Jean Deenmamode (UK); C-STFT: new chair required; WG-PAPPA second term as chair: Saara Wittfooth(UK); WG-SBMA: new chair: Etienne Cavalier (BE) and recommended as chair of the forthcoming
Committee on Bone metabolism (2019); WG-Vit D: chair Chris Sempos (US) (for 2018); WG-PTH closed for2018 (current chair, end of 2nd term: Cathie Sturgeon, UK); C-NPU: chair to be determined (Robert Flatman,
AU: end of 2nd term); WG on Procalcitonin - WG-PCT (if recognized as a priority) Chair: Vincent Delatour(FR); SD-EC; renewal of Joe Passarelli, Tsutomu Nobori and James Pierson-Perry for a second term; CMD: chair D. Payne (2018) and M Linder (from 2019), new WG on cell free DNA: chair R van Schaik. EB
agreed.

8.13. Joint Committee for Traceability in Laboratory medicine (JCTLM)
No items to discuss
6.38
ICHCLRIn August 2017 the leadership of AACC and IFCC agreed to the transfer of the ICHCLR Secretariat from AACC
to IFCC, enabling ICHCLR to continue to function as an autonomous organization within the legal structure of
the IFCC. The work of the ICHCLR coordinates with the work of the IFCC Scientific Division (SD) and a formal
liaison relationship will be established. It was agreed that IFCC would produce a detailed implementation planfor the transfer.
The implementation plan considers the following points:
1. IFCC and AACC should agree and sign a memorandum of understanding to set out the arrangements forthe transfer of the Secretariat function for ICHCLR and the remaining finances belonging to ICHCLR from
AACC to IFCC.
2. IFCC should establish a Secretariat for the ICHCLR. The Secretariat should be chaired by a member of the
IFCC Executive Board and include representation from the IFCC Scientific Division and the Office staff team.
The ICHCLR should be included as a standing agenda item for all meetings of the IFCC Executive Board
and IFCC Scientific Division.

5

3. IFCC should become a Council Member of ICHCLR with the benefit to appoint a member of the Executive
Board to the Council. The Council is the governing body of the ICHCLR. Annual dues of $10,000.
4. A member of the IFCC Scientific Division Executive Committee should serve on the ICHCLR HOG.
5. A member of the ICHCLR HOG should be appointed as a Consultant to the IFCC Scientific Division
Executive Committee with right of attendance at all its meetings (expenses paid by ICHCLR).
6. ICHCLR and IFCC should agree and sign a memorandum of understanding that sets out the oversightarrangements and operational links between the two organizations.
7. IFCC should establish a designated budget line for ICHCLR income and expenditure and should provide
quarterly management accounts to the ICHCLR Council.
8. IFCC should employ an additional Administrative Assistant on a 0.25wte basis with costs charged to
ICHCLR. This member of staff should work with existing IFCC staff to support the operational aspects of
ICHCLR.
9. The ICHCLR Council and IFCC Executive Board should agree on a process for the annual preparation of
the ICHCLR budget. This process is necessary as ICHCLR will have no independent legal status. ICHCLR
accounts will be audited as part of the IFCC annual financial audit, although ICHCLR funds will be designated
so that they can only be used for ICHCLR purposes. The process should evolve during 2018 with the aim of
becoming operational prior to the start of 2019. For 2018 the ICHCLR income will comprise the funds
transferred from AACC together with new membership subscriptions. Indicative ICHCLR expenses for 2018
have been estimated as $70,000 but these will firm up during the operation of the ICHCLR Secretariat. The
conclusion of the process will be agreement by the ICHCLR Council and the IFCC EB of the figures forincome and expenditure that will appear in the designated budget line in the 2019 IFCC budget.
10. The ICHCLR should adopt the proposed new fee structure and entitlements and seek confirmation ofcontinued membership in 2018 from current ICHCLR Members. With effect from January 2018 the ICHCLR
Council has adopted the new fee structure as follows: Council Member: $10,000pa with a seat on the
ICHCLR Council and a seat on the ICHCLR HOG; Stakeholder Member: $1,000pa as a corresponding
member of ICHCLR.
11. The ICHCLR Council should develop and implement an active campaign to increase ICHCLR Membershipduring 2017/18.
EB agreed.

7. Committee on Congresses and Conferences (C-CC)
EB confirmed James Wesenberg as Chair for the 2nd term
MedLab Europe Congress – Barcelona 2017 – Denied auspices as a competitor to IFCC Congresses. The EB
expressed concern about the involvement of IFCC officers in the organization by the INFORMA company of
MedLab exhibitions and conferences in EU and US. Concern was expressed by the EB as well as by AACC
Officers (during the meeting in August 2017) that these events sought to undermine professional society
congresses and exhibitions without providing any education to our profession or support for professional
development. EB urged that IFCC officers decline invitations to participate in MedLab events. A letter will besend to NRs to discourage the active participation of IFCC officers with MedLab.
EB approved the document “Guidance for National/International Congresses”
7.2.23 IFCC WorldLab 2017, Durban (ZA)
Durban, October 22nd-25th, 2015
MF reported the relatively low attendance to the Congress (± 650 attendants). More importantly it will be relevant
to assess the number of delegates attending from African Countries and in particular from sub-SaharanCountries.
7.2.24 IFCC WorldLab 2020, Seoul (KR)
Seoul, May 24th-28th, 2020
7.2.25 IFCC WorldLab 2023, Rome (IT)7.3
IFCC Regional Congresses of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine
7.3.1.15 APFCB India, 2019
Jaipur – Rajasthan, India 17th-20th November 2019
The venue of the congress is finalized as JECC (Jaipur Exhibition and Convention Centre)
The Conference event manager has been finalized as MIKE Hospitality67.3.2.24 EuroMedLab 2019, Barcelona (ES)Barcelona, May 19th-23rd, 2019
Scientific programme will be finalized in Barcelona next November
7.3.2.25 EuroMedLab 2021, Munich (DE)7.3.4.23 COLABIOCLI Uruguay, 2017
Punta del Este, 17th-20th September, 2017
XXIII COLABIOCLI congress had 608 attendees from 14/19 countries. The scientific program included 34
conferences, 14 symposia, 19 RTD, one pre-congress course organized by AACC, 3 intra-congress courses,
and 19 IDV companies. IFCC sponsored 2 symposia (C-EBML, C-IeL), 3 IFCC VLP (Prof. TO, SB, JC F), one
WG-IANT, and 2 Roche Travel Awards (Bolivia). The new COLABIOCLI EB will be made up of Uruguay, which
was re-elected for President, Treasurer and Secretary, Bolivia for Vice-President, and 3 Members (Panama,Paraguay, and Dominican Republic), and Mexico as IFCC Regional Federation Representative for the term
2018-2019. http://colabiocli.com/?q=node/83
7.3.4.24 COLABIOCLI Panama, 2019Panama, 10th–13th September, 2019
7.3.6.15 AFCB Congress
Palestine in April 2018
7.3.7.5 AFCC
EB noted the 4th AFCC Congress 2015, financial report
7.4
IFCC Specialised Conferences
7.4.1 Roche Bergmeyer Conference (March 2018, Eibsee, Germany)
Title: “Coagulation”.
1st IFCC Conference “Laboratory Medicine: Meeting the needs of Mediterranean Nations”
Rome (IT), 2nd – 4th July 2018
The Scientific Program has been finalized as well as the COC. MZ will start the fundraising.
7.4.9

7.40

Other Business
WASPaLM Congress
An IFCC Symposium will be presented at the WASPaLM Congress in Kyoto in November.

10. Communications and Publications Division (CPD)---

G. L. Kovács will end his 2nd term in the EC next December, a call for a member will be sent to NRs.
A new Editor in Chief of the IFCC e-Journal has to be nominated for the period 2018-2020.
In August-September 2017 a major upgrade of the back-end platform of the IFCC website was installed.
This is the newest and more powerful version
In 2018 it is planned to release an improved and more interactive version of the IFCC App and the IFCC eNews will be delivered by monthly issues.
The C-IeL continues to work closely with the C-DL and Insoft in developing electronic/distance learningmaterials and access for IFCC members utilising the ‘e-Academy’. Total items published between June 2015
(launch) and Sept 2017: 118 webinars and 50 external links. An eAcademy membership database is also
being developed with Insoft. Next steps: Launch phase 2 with user Profile functions, Module page, Module
quiz, Quiz results. It is proposed to combine these two C’s, with the new C to contain 3 members from eachof the EMD and CPD and for L Langman (EMD) and E Freggiaro (CPD) to act as Co-Chairs. EB agreed withelectronic communications following the formal EB meeting.
IFCC Public Relations Tools 2018: PR brochures in Arabic, Chinese, French, Italian, Polish, Russian,
Spanish, Turkish, Portuguese, German and Farsi; PR Brochure for Corporate Members; Slide Kit on IFCC
organization; Slide Kit on Role of Lab Medicine and its Role in Healthcare Delivery; PR brochure for generalpublic, governments and industry, both in English and in Spanish new languages to come.
IFCC CPD annual survey: developed to seek feedback from Member Societies and individual scientists
assessing effectiveness of IFCC communication tools and potential barriers; 68% of IFCC member societies
responded (831 responses); two out of three responders reported accessing the website with a minority(19%) accessing it through social media, with Facebook being the most frequently used and Twitter the least;
it was reassuring that the responders unanimously found the website easy to navigate and useful. In the7-

future it is hoped that National Societies will make the email addresses of their members available for direct
delivery of the IFCC eNews and eJIFCC: data security aspects will be respected. Alternatively NS’s could
encourage their members to directly subscribe to receive free direct IFCC eNews, eJIFCC, eAcademy &eLearning.
CPD contribution to IFCC Congresses: Athens EuroMedLab 2017, “Role of Communication in P4 Laboratory
Medicine”; Punta Del Est XXIII COLABLIOCLI 2017, "The IFCC eAcademy: Progress and the future”;
Durban WorldLab 2017“Value of Laboratory Medicine in Healthcare Delivery”.

6. International and Professional Organisations
6.1 World Health Organisation (WHO)No specific items to discuss.
Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) – liaison James Pierson-Perry, Siemens(SD-EC Corporate Representative), a meeting between CLSI and IFCC leaders was held in August 2017
6.4
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) - liaison HM
HM: There is an agreement between the IFCC, IUPAC and Danish Minister of Health focused on maintaining
the NPU database, which is available freely from the IFCC web site. Nevertheless the use of NPU is restricted
to Scandinavian Countries. The Steering Committee (PG and HM are the IFCC representatives) is exploring
the possibility to use the NPU as an application inside the SNOMED-CT electronic health record system. EB
encourages the incorporation of NPU into SNOMED even if costs and the project might need to be investigated.
6.13

World Association of Societies of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (WASPaLM) –liaison MF

6.23
International Standards Organisation (ISO) - liaison RSA
RSA keeps in contact with ISO which is aware of IFCC and a discussion is proceeding to consider new joint
projects.
1.50

International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC)

The IFCC Medal for Outstanding Service
A presentation during the Council is foreseen to present the selected officers: Päivi Laitinen (FI), Cas Weykamp(NL), Paolo Mocarelli (IT) and in memory of Daniel Mazziotta.

19.1 Council Meeting
Durban, Sunday October 22nd, 2017 – 09.00-16.00
EB noted the IFCC Council Agenda
16.3
IFCC Nominations Committee
It was noted that the elections for all positions for the next EB 2018-2020, has concluded.
Last call for nominations was open between September 1st to 30th 2017 for Regional Federation
Representatives: the results were : Abderrazek HEDHILI - AFCB; Adekunle Bashiru OKESINA - AFCC; Sunil
SETHI - APFCB; Sverre SANDBERG - EFLM; Rosa SIERRA AMOR - COLABIOCLI; Ann GRONOWSKI NAFCC (no election required as per IFCC-NAFCC agreement).
Following the settling of Membership for EB 2018-2020, the EB noted that the registration at the “Commercial
Register of the Kanton of Schwyz” is underway.

16. Organizational Matter
16.1
IFCC Office0.25 unit/full secretary time will be dedicated to ICHCLR (PB will get in contact with Greg Miller to clarify thetasks required for the operation of ICHCLR)
16.40

Other business9. Education and Management Division (EMD)- EB confirmed Leslie Lai as Chair for the 2nd term.
-

EMD contribution to IFCC Congresses:
C-CMBC Symposium at EuroMedLab Athens 2017 “The Liquid Biopsy approach: Following the tumour in

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-

-

-

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peripheral blood". C-EBLM: COLABIOCLI Congress, Punta del Este, September 2017 “Why should we use
evidence-based clinical laboratory medicine in practice?”; IFCC WorldLab, Durban, 2017 “Evidence-basedlaboratory medicine: A global perspective”. C-CLM: Satellite Educational Workshop on "Intelligent ClinicalLaboratory Management: Impacts on Quality System Improvement" at the Hilton Durban Hotel 2017;
symposium entitled "Improvement in Clinical Laboratory Services: Approaches to Adding Value" at the IFCCWorldLab, 2017 Durban. C-EUBD: Satellite meeting on Biomarkers for Diabetes, Lanzerac Hotel,
Stellenbosch, Cape Town, 2017. WG-CG: Symposium entitled “Implementing Cancer Genomics in Low
Resource Settings” IFCC WorldLab Durban 2017. WG-ICQA: “Interpretation and Commenting on Clinical
Chemistry Results: An interactive workshop” IFCC WorldLab, Durban. DQCML: Open Session during the
IFCC WorldLab 2017 Congress Durban. EMD symposium: “Risk Management and its utility in clinicalLaboratory” WorldLab 2017 Durban.
C-AQ: regular updating of the “Directory of EQA Services” in the C-AQ section of the IFCC website. The site
will be maintained by Alexander Haliassos as an IFCC Task Force on Proficiency Testing (TF-PT) and CAQ venture. The “EQA Setup Checklist” in the C-AQ section of the IFCC website was reviewed by Annette
Thomas in January 2017 and tested at a workshop in South Africa. The existing checklist was deemedsuitable by the audience. Updating of the existing “Resource table for EQA” database is ongoing with a target
date for completion in October 2017. eLearning presentations from the IFCC eAcademy have been made:“Principles of EQA” (Annette Thomas), “Principles of IQC’ “ (Alexander Haliassos), “Quality Planning(Annette Thomas).
Activities of EMD C’s and WGs:
C-EBLM: Annalise Zemlin proposed as Chair 2018-2020 and Julien Wils recommended for the 2nd term, EB
agreed. Two modules have been completed by the Chair and are available on the eAcademy website. An
EBLM questionnaire has been collated and piloted by Drs K Capote and N Gimenez, the questionnaire has
been distributed to global societies through IFCC portals, feedback has been received and is being collatedwith a view to presentation in Durban, 2017 and publication.
C-CLM, Matthias Orth recommended for 2nd term, EB agreed. The development of a monograph on “ProjectManagement Basics for Laboratory Leaders” is in progress, covering the development of related skills inteam management, risk management, plus other leadership skills. Scheduled to be finalised by 30th
December 2017; a guide entitled “A Training Manual on Leadership Basics for Clinical Laboratory
Professionals" is planned to be finalised by 30th November 2017; a joint C-AQ/C-CLM publication on“Developing Quality Systems in the Clinical Laboratory” aimed at developing countries is being developed.
C-DL, Janet Smith ended her 2nd term as Chair and will remain as Consultant from 2018; Ronda Greaves
and Damien Gruson will leave the Committee being nominated for the ETD-EC, Loralie Langman
recommended for a 2nd term. EB agreed but three vacancies should be filled for 2018.
EB agreed to merge the C-DL with the C-IeL inside CPD with Co-Chairs Langman (EMD) and Freggiaro(CPD) following electronic discussion following the meeting.
C-EUBD: the committee will collaborate in a project to look at the diagnostic cut-points for type 2 diabetes
diagnosis using HbA1c. Currently, there is representation from IFCC, IDF and ACB. Further links will be
developed with ADA and EASD and an evidence gathering project launched.
A project to investigate a European-wide evaluation of HbA1c EQA programmes in different countries using
fresh whole blood and lyophilised samples with the aim of being able to evaluate cross National network
performance has been completed successfully. The results were presented in the satellite symposium on
diabetes held at the end of the Athens EuroMedLab Congress in June 2017.
WG-LEPS: a new entering procedure for Quality Indicators data to be entered by laboratories on the
dedicated website (www.ifcc-mqi.com) has been implemented.
WG-CG: Recommended to be terminated as there has been no activity over 24 months. Following electronic
discussion subsequent to the meeting, EB agreed.
WG-ICQA: Sam Vasikaran proposed 2nd term as Chair, EB agreed.
WG-FC: Claude Lambert proposed as Chair, EB agreed.
MENT: proposed the merging the “Register of Experts” under the chairmanship of GB. EB agreed.
EB noted the Memorandum of Understanding between EFLM Working Group on Postanalytical Phase (WGPOST) and IFCC Working Group on Harmonisation of Interpretive Comments EQA (WG-ICQA) VLP approved applications 2017
Targu Mures-Romania (Sedef Yenice and Elisabeta Topic), Riga-Latvia (Paolo Fortina and Elisabeth Frank),
Kathmandu-Nepal (Howard Morris), Bahir Dar-Ethiopia (Ulrich Sack), Merida-Mexico (Khosrow Adeli), Punta
Del Este-Uruguay (Jean Claude Forrest, Tomris Ozben, Sergio Bernardini), Quezon City-Philippine(Maurizio Ferrari), Santiago-Chile (Gian Cesare Guidi, Veronica Luzzi), Durban-South Africa (Ken Sikaris,
Eric Kilpatrick, Ghassan Shannan), Buenos Aires-Argentina (Ramon Deulofeu, Vijay Grey), Lucknow-India(Howard Morris, Tomris Ozben, Bernard Gouget).

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11.

IFCC Awards

EB noted the Awards’ financial support received by all sponsors, bestowed as follows:
IFCC Distinguished Clinical Chemist Award – Sponsored by IFCC
bestowed on: Prof. Yuk M. Dennis LO
IFCC Distinguished International Services Award (1981-1987) - IFCC-Henry WishinskyAward for Distinguished International Services (since 1990) – SIEMENS
bestowed on: Prof. Jocelyn M. B. HICKS
IFCC Award for Distinguished Contributions in Education – ABBOTT
bestowed on: Prof. Nader RIFAIIFCC-Abbott Award for Significant Contributions in Molecular Diagnostics – ABBOTT MOLECULAR
bestowed on: Ass. Prof. Susan BRANFORD
IFCC Distinguished Award for Laboratory Medicine and Patient Care – SEKISUI
bestowed on: Dr Eleftherios DIAMANDISIFCC-Robert Shaffer Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Development of Standards
for Use in Laboratory Medicine Co-sponsored by NIST and CLSI – NIST / CLSI
bestowed on: Prof. Mathias M. MÜLLER

IFCC Young Investigator Award (from 2011) – IFCC
bestowed on: Dr Rojeet SHRESTHAIFCC Hytest Distinguished Award for contributions to Cardiovascular Diagnostics - HYTEST
bestowed on: Dr Jack H. LADENSON“Gérard SIEST-Biologie Prospective Award”, the contract has been signed and it will be activated in 2020.

19.0

Meetings

19.3

Executive Board meetings in 2018:- Milano, Friday- Saturday and Sunday, February 17-18-19, 2018
- Rome, 5-6 July 2018
- General Conference – November 2018, venue to be decided

5. Regional Organisations
5.01
Asia-Pacific Federation of Clinical Biochemistry and Laboratory Medicine (APFCB)- MACB-APFCB Chemical Pathology Course Program, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 7-8 September 2017
- APFCB India, 2019 – Jaipur, Rajasthan, 17th-20th November 2019
The venue of the congress is finalized as JECC (Jaipur Exhibition and Convention Centre)
The Conference event manager has been finalized as MIKE Hospitality- APFCB India, 2019: Jaipur – Rajasthan, 17th-20th November 2019
5.02
COLABIOCLIThe IFCC financial contribution for 2016 was invested as follows:a) Soledad Mendez – she will have an internship in Laboratorio de Genética Molecular Humana - Centro de
Desenvolvimiento Científico y Tecnológico/DAS/SES/RS en Brasilb) Laura Da Rosa – she will have a scholarship for the project: “Un nuevo enfoque en el estudio de la Litiasis
Renal” in the Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Salud en Asunción, Paraguay.
2) Scholarships for the course Gestión de Calidad en los Laboratorios, organize by OPS, 2017 edition. We had
a position for every country of the Confederation but only five countries showed interest Argentina, Uruguay,
Paraguay Bolivia y Ecuador. Each scholarship cost 450 dollars.
3) A course on Newborn Screening was conducted involving 705 students from all over Latin America. It was
free for members of the associations of COLABIOCLI. All the costs were assumed by COLABIOCLI.
4) A free course for members of COLABIOCLI affiliates on Standardization of Creatininewill be conducted.
5.04
European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
EB noted the proposal for an AACC – EFLM Conference in the US during autumn 2018. A letter from HM and
MF to the EFLM President was sent indicating that according to the MoU between the IFCC and EFLM any
activities to be undertaken outside Europe would initially be discussed with IFCC EB.
5.05

Arab Federation of Clinical Biology
No specific issues

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5.06
African Federation of Clinical Chemistry
The AFCC will host a regional Federation symposium during the WorldLab meeting in Durban. Many YS fromAfrica were sponsored by the IFCC as well as other Associations to attend the WorldLab congress, this included
the South African Association of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine. Elections for the Board which willhold office from 2018 to 2020 will take place in Durban. The hosting country of the next AFCC meeting will also
be determined.
The first recording of Lab Africa Radio has taken place and this recording will be released shortly after the
meeting in Durban.
5.07
North American Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
In accordance with the agreement between the AACC and CSCC, Dr. Ann Gronowski has been confirmed as
the Representative for the NAFCC, effective January 1, 2018, and will sit as the NAFCC representative on the
EB. Dr. Kinniburgh will work with Dr. Gronowski, the AACC and CSCC to effect a smooth transition.

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