A Message from the President of IUTOX, Ali Esat Karakaya (April 2006)

Dear IUTOX Member,A quarter of a century has elapsed since the founding of the International Union of Toxicology. IUTOX began with only 9 member societies in 1980 and has grown to a global association harboring 47 national and regional member societies representing more than 20,000 toxicologists from 5 continents. Seeking the promotion of toxicology in all corners of the globe, IUTOX, through her member societies, engages in a variety of activities that you can find on our web site.

Despite this global reach of our union, there are 13 national societies that have completed their organization but which are still not members of IUTOX. These societies include: the Austrian, Belgian, Czech, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Macedonian and Ukrainian societies from Europe; the Peruvian, Uruguayan and Chilean societies from Latin America; and the Georgian and Kazakh toxicological societies from Central Asia and Caucasia. We invite each one of these societies to become member societies and, by participating in IUTOX’s global activities, to make invaluable contributions to toxicology.

In addition, there are no toxicological societies in over 100 countries, among which are large countries with populations in excess of 100 million such as Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nigeria. We may assume that the existence of a national toxicology society depends on the number of toxicologists in that country and on whether or not the science of toxicology has reached a certain level of development in terms of education and activity. The fact is that billions of people in the world are unable to enjoy most of the benefits deriving from the implementation of knowledge generated by the science of toxicology.

As is implied by these facts, in the next twenty-five years of our existence as IUTOX, I believe that there is much our Union can do to fulfill its substantial responsibilities regarding the promotion of toxicology throughout the world and that the agenda concerning this important cause is not only an extensive one addressing vital issues that have bearing on human health and the environment, but it also embraces a worthy and great challenge. As for some of our current activities: We are now some 5 months away from the EUROTOX 2006 / 6 CTDC Congress to be held in Croatia, 20-24 September 2006. I trust you are planning to participate in this exciting congress. Meanwhile the preparatory work for one of the most important IUTOX activities in 2007, namely the ICT XI Montreal Meeting, is being successfully conducted by our Canadian colleagues.

The success of any scientific society depends on the active participation of its members in the activities as well as in the planning and decision processes of the society. As IUTOX, we need your thoughts and your inputs in order to further improve the impact of our activities. Your suggestions and criticisms will be very much appreciated.

With my best regards,
Ali Esat Karakaya, Ph.D., ATS
IUTOX President (2004-2007)