Mission and Vision
Late Prof. Tetsuo Kanno, Founding President
The ACNS is a family of Asian Neurosurgeons striving to improve the standards of Neurosurgery in Asia. The objective is to bring all the Neurosurgeons in Asian countries together and learn, dicuss and grow together. After being established as a society by Late Dr. Tetsuo Kanno in the nineties, ACNS has grown in a tremendous fashion. The leaders are poising to take ACNS to the next level where one of the best education in Neurosurgery is rendered to all the residents in Asia, irrespective of the country.
Under the able leadership of Professor Yoko Kato, the organisation has grown from strength to strength and the last few ACNS conferences are a clear demonstration of how much momentum the society has gathered. In September 2014, Astana will be hosting the 10th ACNS conference and thousands of Neurosurgeons and Nurses will be part of the grand gathering of learning and getting to know each other.
ACNS courses has been a very successful attempt and tis has given residents a chance to learn with the masters at a price that does not put a burden on the residents and struggling young Neurosurgeons from Asia. The best themes and course materials have been prepared and ACNS is also launching the surgical manual which would be really helpful to the young Neurosurgeon.
Establishment and Future
Around in 1990, it was very rare for me to see a young neurosurgeon from Asia at any international neurosurgical meetings anywhere. The reason was of course the unbearable financial difficulty that such participation was creating. However, the education for the young is the most important issue for developing our future. Therefore, we were looking for a solution, and the first step was to plan an international educational meeting for young Asian neurosurgeons in Japan.
We requested the sponsorship that was soon kindly provided by the Japanese big corporations, such as Toyota Corp., to support Asian young neurosurgeons. They made possible their participation covering travel fees, accommodation etc. In this way, in 1993, the first Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons (ACNS) was held at Nagoya, Japan. Approximately 100 young neurosurgeons were invited from Asian countries, and they were able to attend lectures on the contemporary status of neurosurgery from Western and Asian eminent neurosurgeons, being able to meet them personally for the first time in their life.
Since then, 10 ACNS meetings have been held in Japan, Pakistan, Hong-Kong, Indonesia, India, China and Malaysia. A total of 3,518 neurosurgeons have participated in them.
Through these activities for many years, fortunately ACNS could have great contribution from many eminent neurosurgeons in the world as leadership for excellence. It will be impossible to mention all of them, but a lot of effort was provided by Prof. Raja, Prof. Ramamurthi, Prof. Hashi, Prof. Ohta, Prof. Sehkar, Prof. Al-Mefty, Prof. Wang, Prof. Zhao, Prof. Eka J.Wahjoepramono, Prof. Chee, Prof. Leung, Dr. Kostadin and Dr. Agrawal, of course Prof. Kato (our current President) and so many excellent colleagues for the development of ACNSI believe that the ACNS has contributed to the educational development of Asian neurosurgery. These activities not only spread knowledge but also help popularize and provide neurosurgical care in the underprivileged sections of Asia. Now, 20 years later the world is changing very dramatically. New realities in Asia have changed the understanding of underdevelopment, economic growth, social development and health care, facing new challenges presented by matching the new socioeconomic status with the contemporary demands for neurosurgical care. Neurosurgeons as a social role are supposed to maintain high moral standing of leaders. We all at the ACNS believe that Asian neurosurgeons are a trough international society able to contribute as a whole to Asian societies, beyond the daily economic, political and social controversies, serving to the neurosurgical patient in the best way they can.
I personally feel that the activity of ACNS has entered that next stage, a transition to stage of not only education into the advanced neurosurgical of the present, but the understanding of the patient and the fellow- neurosurgeon as human-beings in spite of all the complexities of our world, 20 year after ACNS inception.
I hope that our senior and junior members have made that transition, and ACNS activities will reflect the new stage. Association with our fellows should be not listening to lectures together, but closer cooperation. Travelling is easier, practical education is more easily provided(we have to learn new methods more frequently), patients can attend subspecialists easily and we have to work together, we have to accustom to higher expenses and elder patients, other neurosurgeon-patient relationships. And all this should be achieved not forgetting our human attitude,warm hearted mind for the patients through the activities of ACNS and beyond.
For the future, we need to give spiritual power to the young, who will make a new world and the next era of neurosurgery.
Of course, we all senior neurosurgeons are willing to support and help you.
Yours,
Late Tetsuo Kanno
