International Journal of Leprosy and other Mycobacterial Diseases

• Volume 57(1 Suppl 1) , Number 1
• Page: 264–7

General Meeting of ILA Members

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Saturday, 17 September 1988

• General Meeting of the Members of the International Leprosy Association

International Leprosy Association

Professor M. F. Lechat, President of ILA, was in the Chair. The President welcomed all the Members.

Deaths of members since last Congress in New Delhi: Father Dr. Joseph Ambrosoli, Clovis Bopp, Stanley G. Browne, Walter Bungeler, Melville Christian, Robert G. Cochrane, Victor P. Das, Herbert H. Gass, Han Huikeshoven, Tamotsu Imaeda, Georg Klingmuller, Monina G. Madarang, Tetsu Nakayama, Mitsugu Nishiura, James C. Pedley, Charles C. Shepard, and Jose Guerrero Tolentino.

Confirmation of the minutes of the General Meeting of Members held on 15 February 1984 at New Delhi. These were confirmed.

Constitutional Amendments. The following amendments were not formally submitted but were raised from the floor at the General Meeting of Members held on 25 February 1984 in New Delhi. The Council discussed these amendments fully and arrived at the following conclusions:

a) Terms of President and Vice-Presidents

4c) Present text: The President and Vice-Presidents shall not hold office continuously for more than one term except by a two-thirds majority vote of the General Assembly of Members.

Amendment: The President and Vice-Presidents shall not hold office for more than one term.

The Council felt that there was no need for any change in the clause. The present clause which requires a two-thirds majority is adequate.

b) Officers and Council
4a) Present text: Officers of the Association shall be the President; the immediate Past President; the Secretary; the Treasurer; three Vice-Presidents, one from each major geographic division of the world (Europe-Africa, Asia and the Americas); and the Editor of the Journal.

Amendment: Officers of the Association shall be the President; the immediate Past President; the Secretary; the Treasurer; four Vice-Presidents, one from each major geographic division of the world (Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe); and the Editor of the Journal.

The Council approved the amendment.
c) 4b) Present text: The Council shall consist of these Officers and fourteen elected members who shall be selected on the basis of geographic representation. The term of office shall be five years.

Amendment: The Council shall consist of these Officers and fifteen elected members selected on the basis of geographic representation. The term of office shall be the interval between succeeding Congresses. The representation shall be: Africa 3, the Americas 4, Asia 5, Europe 3.

The Council approved the amendment.
d) Meetings

8. Present text: The Association shall hold Congresses at such intervals and under such conditions as may be determined by the Council.

Amendment: The Association shall hold the Congress at an interval of four years.

The Council felt that there was no need to change since the present Constitution allows flexibility to the Council to recommend different intervals between Congresses.

e) President Emeritus.
The Secretary, Dr. Thangaraj, read the Minutes of the last General Meeting of Members proposing the introduction of a clause regarding the election of a President Emeritus.

New clause: The Council shall be empowered to admit to the role of President Emeritus those Presidents who after their term of office deserve recognition of their signal service to the cause of leprosy.

The Council approved the clause.

The Members endorsed the Council recommendations on the amendments.

It was proposed to elect Dr. J. Convit President Emeritus under the new clause.

Nomination for Officers and Councillors. The following nominations were approved by the Council for approval by the Members:

 

 

Secretary's Report. The Secretary gave a brief report on the organization and finances of the XII International Leprosy Congress held in New Delhi in 1984.

He said that the admission of new members to the International Leprosy Association (ILA) was rather cumbersome and forwarding the applications to a Selection Committee never worked efficiently. He wanted the Council to make a decision.

The Secretary mentioned that the ILA is a founding member of the Council of the International Organization of Medical Sciences (CIOMS). He is not only on the Executive Committee but also a Vice-President of CIOMS.

He visited Amsterdam and The Hague several times, along with Prof. Lechat, in connection with the XIII Congress arrangements. He also visited Brazzaville and Havana along with Prof. Lechat for the preparation of the XIV International Leprosy Congress.

The President and Secretary had several meetings with ILEP members regarding the relationship between ILA and ILEP in the organization of the Congress. Following these discussions, it was agreed that ILEP will be a co-sponsor for this Congress, and it was most appreciated both by ILA and ILEP.

The Secretary also mentioned about the high costs involved in simultaneous translation at the Congress sessions. The main activities of the ILA at present are 1) holding the Congress once in five years and 2) publishing the JOURNAL. He hoped that the new Council will try to broaden these activities during the years to come.

He thanked the President and the Councillors for their cooperation during his term of office.

Editor's Report. The number of times an original article in the INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEPROSY is cited in other publications has steadily increased since 1980. Our JOURNAL is now in the top 5% of scientific journals in this regard.

Total page counts in the last 5 years have shown gradual increases This, by and large, is a reflection of supplements and an increasing amount of current literature. The largest number of new manuscripts come from India, followed by the U.S.A. The total number of new submissions per year has remained relatively constant, as has the overall acceptance rate of approximately 60%.

We remain continually in debt to a distinguished group of reviewers and to an eminent group of authors for making the JOURNAL possible and for maintaining its quality.

Treasurer's Report. The Treasurer reported that the accounts of the INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEPROSY, which include the accounts of the ILA itself, remain in balance but that this is largely due to the substantial donations, amounting to about half of the annual income, received from members of ILEP.

He said the cost of distributing the JOURNAL by surface mail has increased substantially recently and, although a combination of bulk shipment to major centers with local regular mail is still more expensive than surface mail alone, the reduction in delivery time is so great he recommended that we adopt the bulk shipment service offered by our printer.

The Treasurer also reported that costs of producing the JOURNAL continue to rise and, in order to cover these costs and reduce our dependence on donations, he recommended an increase in membership fees of $10 to a total of $70 per year and an increase in institutional fees of $20 to a total of $100 per year. These recommendations were accepted by the Council.

Venue for the Next Congress. The Members received detailed information from Prof. Lechat, President, concerning the proposed sites for the next Congress to be held in 1993 (Brazzaville, Congo; Havana, Cuba; Honolulu, U.S.A.; Orlando, U.S.A.; and Seoul, Korea).

Prof. Lechat thoroughly reviewed the facilities in all the sites in light of the following considerations: origin of invitation, conference facilities, amenities, travel costs and accessibility, hotels-rooms available and price range, cost estimates, sources of finance, visa requirements and availability, strength of local organizing committee.

He informed that the Council, after extensive debate, is recommending to the General Meeting of the Members that Orlando be selected as the venue for the next Congress. Then the President read Article 8 of the Constitution.

Article 8: "The Association shall hold Congresses at such intervals and under such conditions as may be determined by the Council." However, in view of the procedure followed at the XII International Leprosy Congress in New Delhi, the President called for a secret ballot to decide whether the General Meeting would endorse or reject the Council's recommendation selecting Orlando as the venue for the next Congress.

The Members by a majority vote approved the Council's decision.

Closing Remarks by the President. In his closing remarks, Prof. M. F. Lechat remembered all those who were his close colleagues in the Association. He particularly made mention of the late Dr. Stanley Browne, from whom he had remarkable cooperation as Secretary of the ILA during his first term as President. Dr. Browne was an eminent leprologist and held many important positions in the field of leprosy. He received many awards. Dr. Browne will be remembered for the tremendous service he has given for the cause of leprosy.

Other Business, a) Election of Councillors: It was asked from the floor if the General Meeting can consider including a member from the Arab countries in the Council. The Secretary informed that according to the Constitution it will not be possible to elect a new member now. It was assured that the new Council would consider this request at the time of the next election.

b) Increase in subscription rates for IJL: The recommendation of the Treasurer that the membership fee be raised from $60 to $70 and that the institutional fee be raised from $80 to $100 was approved.

c) Languages: Both the Secretary in his report and Mr. de Bok, Secretary of the Local Organizing Committee for the XIII Congress, raised the issue of the high cost involved in simultaneous interpretation.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ R. H. Thangaraj
Dr. R. H. Thangaraj

Secretary