A Message from the President of IUTOX, Kai Savolainen (November 2007)

Dear IUTOX Members,

I want to thank you all for electing me President of IUTOX in Montreal in 2007. As you are probably aware, this was an extraordinary situation since the IUTOX President-elect, Robert Kroes, tragically passed away at the end of 2006. Thus, a President had to be elected even though that meant that the new holder of the position would not have had any recent experience of sitting on the IUTOX Executive Committee. I had served on the IUTOX Executive Committee (EC) for nine years, from 1989 to 1998, six of those years as the Secretary-General. Furthermore, I organized the ICTX in Tampere in 2004, but nonetheless I had not been involved in the day-to-day operations of IUTOX. This does mean that the challenges of the IUTOX Presidency will be formidable for me, but let me make it clear that I consider it a special honor to serve you as the president of IUTOX.

IUTOX has enjoyed an extremely successful three year term (2004-2007) under the leadership of Dr. Ali Esat Karakaya and the distinguished Executive Committee of IUTOX. I heartily congratulate Professor Karakaya and the whole EC for being able to consolidate the membership of the Union which now consists of 52 national and regional member organizations. In addition, a number of activities have been implemented during the 2004-2007 term, including the 6CTDC which was held as an integrated Congress together with the EUROTOX-2006 in Cavtat, Croatia on Sept. 20–24, 2006 (www.eurotox2006-6ctdc.org). The second main event was the 11th International Congress of Toxicology which was held in Montreal, Canada on 15–19 July, 2007 (www.ict2007.org). Both congresses were excellently organized and had a very good representation from toxicologists from all over the world. I want to extend my own sincere thanks and also the congratulations from the whole IUTOX EC to the host societies, the Croatian Society of Toxicology, and the Society of Toxicology Canada.

The newly elected IUTOX 2007–2010 Executive Committee intends to continue along the successful path laid down by the previous IUTOX Executive Committees in organizing important and topical activities related to toxicology on a global scale. I am fortunate that in approaching this challenging though at the same time highly rewarding job, that I can rely on the assistance of such excellent Executive Committee members. These individuals are talented, dedicated toxicologists who volunteer their time to serve the world toxicology community. The other Executive Committee members are Dr. Linda Birnbaum (USA), President-Elect; Dr. Tohru Inoue (Japan), Vice President; Dr. Wallace Hayes (USA), Secretary-General; Dr. Alexander Buerkle (Germany), Treasurer; and Directors, Dr. Silvia Barros (Brazil), Dr. Mumtaz Iscan (Turkey), Dr. Lewis Smith (UK), Dr. Elaine Faustman (USA), and Dr. Barbara Hales (Canada).

The IUTOX EC is now preparing a strategic plan for the new term. You will find this document soon on the IUTOX website. The strategic plan will be prepared to achieve many of the goals set out in the long range goals and mission of IUTOX. This mission includes fostering of international scientific cooperation among toxicologists, promoting the acquisition, dissemination and utilization of knowledge in the science of toxicology on a global scale and encouraging continued training and development of toxicologists world-wide. The long range goals of IUTOX are:

• to serve as the scientific voice of toxicology in the world
• to provide leadership as a worldwide scientific organization that objectively addresses global issues involving the toxicological sciences
• to broaden the geographical base of toxicology as a discipline and a profession to all countries of the world
• to pursue capacity building in toxicology, particularly in developing countries to utilize its global perspective and network to contribute to the enrichment of toxicology education and the career development of young toxicologists

Everyone is aware that our world faces major problems and these threats appear to arrive at an ever-quickening rate. If IUTOX is to have any relevance on the world stage, it must find ways to tackle these challenges so that it can have a practical impact on global toxicological issues. This means creating new ideas and generating new programs capable of combating the emerging chemical safety challenges. We must also actively seek out new partners to help us implement these new programs if we are to make any impact in global terms. This will mean intensifying our collaboration with partners such as the World Health Organization, International Council for Science (ICSU), Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, even financial organizations like the World Bank, since it is only through collaboration that we can achieve the goals of IUTOX. The potential partners mentioned above are especially crucial because most of the IUTOX long-range goals emphasize the importance of increasing activities in the developing countries. Issues such as threats to children's health by environmental contamination or utilization of novel technologies may be areas in which IUTOX could contribute to capacity-building in relevant areas in the developing world, and these are clearly areas where cooperation with new and existing partners will prove to be especially valuable. IUTOX also needs to work more with local governments in the developing countries if it is to have a positive impact on health in the inhabitants.

Important steps have been taken; we are making a positive impact on chemical safety in the developing countries. One major IUTOX activity was the integration of the "Congress of Toxicology in Developing Countries" (CTDCs) into IUTOX activities. The goals of these congresses are 1) to provide a platform where the toxicological issues and problems that mainly concern the developing countries can be addressed; and 2) to promote cooperation between scientists from the developed and developing countries to work on the specific toxicological problems faced by the developing world.

Two important congresses will be organized by IUTOX during the next three years: The first is the 7CTDC which will be held in South Africa, in Sun City, on September 6-10, 2009, (www.7ctdc.co.za/); and the second, the 12th International Congress of Toxicology will be held in Barcelona, Spain, on 11-15 July, 2010 (http://gestion.pacifico-meetings.com/www/iutox2010/). During the next few months, the scientific committees of these congresses will start asking the member societies to submit their contributions to the scientific programs of these two congresses. We hope for enthusiastic involvement from the member societies in their preparation, and active participation of individual members of the member societies at these meetings.

Your new IUTOX-EC looks forward to serving the world toxicological community. We need strong and active support from the IUTOX member societies and would very much appreciate your feedback and your contributions so that we can effectively implement and promote the goals of IUTOX.

Kai Savolainen
IUTOX President