Greetings from Cape Town, South Africa.

On Wednesday 28 January 2009 there were only 500 days left before the kick-off of the soccer World Cup in South Africa. But from today there are only 550 days to the start of our WFNMB 2010 congress. An occasion to celebrate, as it signals the tenth meeting of the WFNMB since its establishment 40 years ago in 1970.

Cape Town will be ready for both these prestigious events. Infrastructure is being built and upgraded, amongst others at Cape Town International Airport, the railway system and other transport facilities. Everything will be functioning by the time the world’s Nuclear Medicine community visits the Cape.

The executive of the WFNMB has been involved in several activities, including supporting the activities of the World Radiopharmaceutical Therapy Council (WRPTC). The 3rd International Conference on Radiopharmaceutical Therapy will be held at Cartagena, Colombia from 3-7 November 2009. Please visit the official website (www.icrt-09.warmolth.org) for more information.

The WFNMB also supported delegates to attend the second Singapore General Hospital Nuclear Medicine Update from 4-7 March 2009. Our secretary-general attended and was also a speaker at the update. More information is available at www.sgh-nmu.org. We shall soon publish a report of the meeting on our website.

Please visit our website (www.wfnmb.org). Amongst others you will find a page dedicated to our training activities. Access to the training material requires a simple registration process. The training resources will be updated regularly. Your comments will be appreciated.

An important part of our activities is hosting the 2010 congress. Please diarise the congress dates, 18–23 September 2010. And make sure that you book a few extra days to visit our beautiful country, hear the lions roar and ride an ostrich. Follow the WFNMB 2010 Congress link on our website, where you will find more information regarding the conference. The site will be updated regularly as new information becomes available.

We want to draw your attention to the new chapter on Radiopharmaceuticals in the International Pharmacopoeia (Ph. Int.). This is published for all WHO Member states to help them ensure high quality of medicines. Many pharmacopoeias do not have monographs for radiopharmaceuticals and therefore we recommend that countries adopt these international monographs and recommendations. Unlike the European or US Pharmacopeias, the International pharmacopoeia is Free! The publication of this chapter comes after four years of joint efforts between the WHO and the IAEA to deliver this to Member States. The web-link for the new chapter on Radiopharmaceuticals in the International Pharmacopeia is: http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/pharmacopoeia/radiopharm/en/index.html . Thank you very much to Kishor Solanki from the IAEA and his collaborators who made this possible.

The Intermediate Assembly at its meeting in India in November 2008 decided to raise the membership fees to US$2 per paid up member. (Members are groups, societies or associations acknowledged as representatives of Nuclear Medicine in their respective countries.) This is the first time since the inception of the WFNMB that membership fees are increased. Invoices for 2009 will be sent out shortly. A membership list with society officials (presidents and secretaries) of the various national societies will also be posted on the website.

In order to ascertain that you receive regular updates on the WFNMB activities and the upcoming congress please ensure that we have your correct contact details.

Looking forward to meeting you in Cape Town in 2010.

Prof Annare Ellmann
President: WFNMB