HOW SAARC-AA BEGAN
In the September 1987, during the Banquet following the successful 5th ASEAN Congress at Singapore, there was a discussion between Prof. V. M. Divekar of India and Prof. S.N, Samad Choudhury of Bangladesh on the necessity of forming a forum of the Anaesthesiologists of the South Asian countries. In that discussion it was decided that a meeting of the Socities of Anaesthesiologists of the region would be convened in future.
During the 9th World Congress of Anaesthesiologists held in Washington D.C. USA from May 22-28, a joint meeting was convened. The meeting took place during the lunch break on May 26 in which the delegates from Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan were present. The delegates comprise of Prof. S.N. Samad Choudhury and Dr. A.B. Siddiqui of Bangladesh, Prof. V.M. Divekar, Prof I.D. Panchal, Dr, A.P. AGashe, Dr. V.k. Appukutty, Dr. V.H. Bhagatwala, Dr. S.A. Bhagwat, Dr. (Mrs) S.S. Bhojraj, Dr. P.M. Chikalpatty, Dr. N. Damle, Dr. B.G Gharpure, Dr. P. Kataria, Dr. A. Mandke, Dr. P. Mavinkurve, Dr. Pritam Singh, Dr. Falguni Shah and Dr. N.P. Singh from India and Prof. S. Tipu Sultan, Dr. N. Jakhrani, Dr. Rehana S. Kamal, Dr. S. Kamal, Prof. A. Sakhi, Dr. Razia, Dr. F.A. Khan, Dr. I. Lalani, Dr. S. Abbas and Dr. H.A. Qureshi from Pakistan. After a lively discussion it was unanimously agreed that a forum of the Anaesthesiologists would be formed and it may be named” South East Asian Regional Cooperation in Anaesthesia (SEARCA).The countries which may join the forum were Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma (now Mianmar). India, The Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
After a lapse of more than two years, during the 8th Asian-Australasian Congress of Anaesthesiologists held in Seoul, DPR Korea from September 23-28, 1990, the next meeting took place, the meeting was attended by representatives from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The representatives included Prof S.N Samad Choudhury from Bangladesh, Prof. A. Bhattacharya, Prof. V.M. Divekar and Prof. H.L. Kaul from India, Prof. R. Amatya from Nepal, Prof. Rehana S. Kamal and Dr. Fauzia A. Khan from Pakistan and Dr. Deepthi Attygalle from Sri Lanka. Besides, Dr. T.C.K. Brown, Chairman, Education Committee of WFSA, Dr. R.M. Hare, Secretary, AARS and Dr. Say Wan Lim, Secretary, WFSA were also present at the meeting. Their presence and suggestions were very helpful. The outcome of the meeting was very encouraging and it resolved to form a confederation of Anaesthesiologists in near future when a Workshop world be organized in Madras or some other place in India under the sponsorship of WFSA.
The next important step was taken during the International Congress of Anaesthesiology held in the All-India Medical Institute in New Delhi, India from November 31 to December 3, 1991, when two highly fruitful meetings took place at the initiative to Prof. A. M. Deshpande and Prof. H. L. Kaul. Representatives from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka attended. After a series of discussions on October 31, 1991, “South Asian Confederation of Anaesthesiologists (SACA)” finally came into existence on November 1, 1991. The name SEARCA proposed earlier was thus replaced by ‘SACA’.
It was agreed that the Executive Committee would consist of the following:
President : One
President-Elect : One
Secretary : One
Assistant Secretary : One
Treasurer : One
Vice-Presidents : One from each Member-Society
Members : One from each member-Society
Dr. A. Bhattacharya, Secretary of the newly formed SACA, was given the responsibility of drafting a Constitution of SACA and distributing it to the Member-Societies.
Bangladesh Society of Anaesthesiologists was offered to host the first Congress of SACA in Dhaka, Bangladesh from October 27-29 1993.
The draft Constitution of SACA was circulated to the Member countries prior to the 10th World Congress of Anaesthesiologists at the Hague, the Netherlands, from June 12-19,1992.
The Board meeting of AARS of WFSA held at the Congress centre at the Hague, the Netherlands on June 15, 1992 congratulated the creation of SACA and decided to support financially the first SACA Congress in the form of organizing a Refreshers’ course on October 26, 1993. Dr. M. V. Silao, Chairman, Prof. J. H. Lee, Vice-Chairman, Dr. R.M. Hare, Secretary, Prof. R. Ogawa, Treasurer, Prof. SNS. Choudhury, Board-Member, Dr. Say Wan Lim, President WFSA. Dr. C. Hoskins, Vice-President WFSA, Prof. K. Mori, Member EC WFSA, Dr. T.C.K Brown, Vice-Chairman EC WFSA, and Prof. M. Fujimori, Chairman Education Committees of WFSA and AARS were present at the meeting, the Board authorized Prof. S.N.S. Choudhury to maintain liaison with Pro;. M. Fjuiniori and Dr. R.M. Hare in this regard.
An extended meeting of the EC of SACA was held on June 17, 1992 at the Hague Congress centre. Dr. R.M. Hare attended the meeting as a special invitee. The meeting approved the provisional draft Constitutions after a number of amendments. The meeting discussed the organizational, financial and other aspects of SACA. The meeting also confirmed the date of the first SACA Congress from October 27-29, 1993 with a pre-Congress Refreshers’ course on the preceeding day. Prof. S.N. Samad Choudhury, President-Elect of SACA and President of Bangladesh Society of Anaesthesiologists (BSA) was Nominated as the President of the first SACA Congress.
Dr. Say Wan Lim, President WFSA decided to join the first SACA Congress as a mark of his support to the creation of SACA and announced that WFSA would arrange two visiting Professors to attend the Congress. Prof. M.D. Vickers (who is also the Secretary of WFSA ) and Dr. T.C.K. Brown are expected to attend the Congress in this capacity.
The Organizing Committee of the first SACA Congress headed by Prof. K.M. Iqbal and the Executive Committee of BSA are actively engaged in making preparations to hold the Congress in a befitting manner. In the meantime, valuable suggestions made by Prof. V.M. Divekar, Presdent SACA, Prof. A. Bhattacharya, Secretary SACA, Prof. H.L. Kaul. Prof. S. Tipu Sultan, Prof. R. Amatya and Dr. D. Attygalle have made considerable contributions in this regard and have been appreciated by BSA and the Organizing Committee of the Congress.
SACA has come into existence, SACA has started to march towards a bright future and certainly SACA shall take the lead to foster the prosperity of the science of Anaesthesiology in the Member countries in the years to come.
In April 2007, at the Association’s 14th summit, Afghanistan became its eighth member. SAARC-Association of Anaesthesiologists (formerly known as SACA) was founded in the year 1991 with the support and guidance of WFSA and the vision of the founders was based on the ancient links, contemporary needs and the future potential that exists amongst the SAARC anaesthesiologists.
To share the common problems or challenges in the profession and to encourage and share the knowledge and expertise under one roof is the primary objective of SAARC-AA in bringing together the anesthesiologists of eight SAARC nations.
The SAARC-AA has recently been accepted as the Regional Society of World Federation of Anaesthesiologists in the General Assembly during the 15th World Congress of Anaesthesiologists, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 25th to 30th March, 2012.
SAARC Association of Anaesthesiologists
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an economic and political organization of eight countries in Southern Asia. SAARC was established when its charter was formally adopted on December 8, 1985 by the Heads of State of Government of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In April 2007, at the Association’s 14th summit, Afghanistan became its eighth member. SAARC-Association of Anaesthesiologists (formerly known as SACA) was founded in the year 1991 with the support and guidance of WFSA and the vision of the founders was based on the ancient links, contemporary needs and the future potential that exists amongst the SAARC anaesthesiologists.
To share the common problems or challenges in the profession and to encourage and share the knowledge and expertise under one roof is the primary objective of SAARC-AA in bringing together the anesthesiologists of eight SAARC nations.
The first SAARC-AA (SACA) Congress was successfully conducted in Dhaka in 1993 under the leadership of Prof. S. N. Samad Chowdhury, the father figure of Bangladesh.
The 2nd SACA Congress was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1995, 3rd SACA Congress in Pakistan, in 1997, 4th SACA Congress in Chennai, India, in 1999, 5th SACA Congress in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2003, 6th SACA Congress in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7th SACA Congress in Kathmandu, Nepal, in 2007, 8th SAARC-AA Congress in Pakistan and the last 9th SAARC-AA Congress was held in Bengaluru, India, in 2011.
For the 3rd time in Bangladesh, the 10th Congress of the SAARC-AA will be held in the city of Dhaka, Bangladesh from 22nd to 24th February, 2013. We extend a warm welcome to all the fellow colleagues of the SAARC nations as well as WFSA members to attend this mega scientific gathering and make this the most memorable event.
