Did you know that 22 percent of today’s ASH members live in nearly 100 countries outside of North America? Or that more than 50 percent of Blood manuscripts are submitted from other countries? Or that 46 percent of the 2013 annual meeting attendees and 52 percent of abstract submissions to that meeting were from outside North America? I didn’t either!
I’ve always thought of ASH as being a primarily North American society. Although it’s true that much of the Society’s focus is on domestic programs, if ASH is interested in continuing to attract the best science to Blood and the annual meeting, and to growing the field of hematology outside of North America, the issue of how best to meet the needs of international members while continuing to address those of our domestic members becomes ever more important to consider.
Over the years, ASH has actively engaged international hematologists and provided customized products and services to its members abroad through programs such as the Highlights of ASH in Latin America and Asia, the International Outreach Initiative, the International Consortium on Acute Leukemia, and the Visitor Training Program. If ASH expands its services, the context in which it develops, delivers, and funds its programs would likely need to change.
To begin to address these issues, the ASH Executive Committee engaged the members of the International Members Committee in active discussions to identify the most important programs and services that ASH should provide and to decide what opportunities ASH is uniquely positioned to address. In addition, the Executive Committee established a task force charged with presenting models representing different levels of commitment by the Society to better meet our mission of helping hematologists conquer blood diseases worldwide. The models will focus on maintaining the Society’s position as the preeminent source of hematologic research, education, and quality care. Each ASH standing committee will be invited to consider this matter and provide input to the task force.
The task force wants to receive input from all ASH members. Please consider the following questions: How should ASH evolve? What services and programs are most important? What is the most important issue that ASH should address for hematologists and their patients worldwide? How do YOU envision ASH in 2025? Please send your responses to these questions to ashpresident@hematology.org by October 1, and look for an update from the Society's international initiative task force in a future issue of The Hematologist.
