Let me begin by wishing you and your families a very Happy and Prosperous New Year 2006. I extend a very warm welcome to all the new members who have joined the IAP-ID this year and look forwards to their active participation and contribution to the activities of the Division.

I am over whelmed by the tremendous support, affection and confidence shown to me by the members of the IAP-ID in insisting that I continue as the Secretary & Treasurer for the third term. I promise to continue to serve the IAP-ID with great dedication and to the best of my ability and I hope to be able to steer our Division to new heights of excellence and achievements.

We had a very successful year in 2005 and I am sure that 2006 will also be a very bright and fruitful year. We have very interesting academic programmes lined up and I am sure members of the IAP-ID will take the opportunity to update their knowledge in various areas of Pathology being covered.

On behalf of the IAP-ID I would like to express our gratitude and thanks to Dr. G. P. Bhagwat and his team for the wonderful arrangements in hosting the IAP-ID Annual Meeting held on the 30th November 2005 at Indore. Our thanks are also due to the Guest Speaker Dr. Andrew Folpe, from USA, and, to Dr. K. S. Ratnakar and his team (Slide Seminar on "Orbital Lesions") and to Dr. Rama Gopalan and her team (Symposium on "Placental Pathology") for their wonderful scientific presentations.

This year the Mid Year Teaching Programme will be held on 29th and 30th April 2005 at the Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, and will be a Workshop on "Endocrine Pathology" to be organized by Dr. Ramdas Naik and his team. I am sure that the workshop will be a very fruitful and interesting experience for all the participants. Later, in August, we will have the IAP-ID 9th Annual CME on the very current topic of "Endoscopic Biopsies" to be conducted by Dr. Anjali Amrapurkar and her team at the T N Medical College and B Y L Nair Hospital, Mumbai. Endoscopic biopsies are increasingly becoming routine and this CME will provide an opportunity to participants to familiarize themselves and hone their skills as far as these biopsies go. In December, we will have the IAP-ID Annual Meeting in Bangalore to be organized by Dr. Sujay Prasad which will be a grand and glittering event for sure. Besides the Guest Lecture and a Slide Seminar by the invited foreign speaker, the scientific programme includes a Slide Seminar on "Histopathology of Infections and Infestations" to be moderated by Dr. Pradeep Vaideeshwar (Mumbai) and a Symposium on "Prostate Pathology" to be moderated by Col. S. Satyanarayana (New Delhi). I urge the members to attend these academic programmes of the IAP-ID in large numbers.

On behalf of the IAP-ID I would like to thank M/s BioGenex Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd., for their advertisements in this years publications of the IAP-ID. This was arranged through the good offices of Dr. Sujay Prasad, Bangalore, for which the IAP-ID expresses its gratitude and thanks.

Before I end, I earnestly appeal to all the members who have not yet paid their membership fees for this year, or are in arrears, to kindly pay their dues immediately.

I end by sending my warmest good wishes to you and your families.

Dr. Francisco Couto

Secretariat:
Secretary & Treasurer, IAP-ID
714, La Campala Colony
Panaji - 403001, Goa