By Dr Evelyn Ho

Guest of Honour, YB Lee Kah Choon, Pro-Chancellor, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Health of Malaysia opens the Congress

AAR President 2004-2006, Dr P Sathyamoorthy welcomes VIPs and delegates to the AAR 2004

Outgoing AAR President, Prof Dr Cholid Badri addresses the Congress

YB En Lee Kah Choon touring the trade exhibition

Penang Chief Minister YAB Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon drops in for lunch with CoR President, Associate Prof Dr Basri J J Abdullah

Pearl of the Orient Nite

YB Mr Lee Kah Choon, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Health of Malaysia officiated at the Official Opening of the 12^th ASEAN Association of Radiology (AAR) at the Mutiara Beach Resort, Penang on the 17^th September 2004. In his speech, YB Lee Kah Choon spoke on modern imaging being the road to better healthcare. The Malaysian Vision of Health 2020 would mean Malaysians could obtain treatment at a lower cost at home, instead of travelling abroad.

Healthcare needs were dramatically increasing because of lifestyle changes and demographics. By 2020 in Malaysia, 6.6% of the population would be older than 65 years as compared to 2.3% today. This increase in life expectancy would be due to a better healthcare system, better nutrition and a better environment. Cancer would become more common. In no other disease is the early and accurate diagnosis with proper localisation of the disease extent more important than in cancer.

It is timely that imaging has gone into the ‘molecular’ level and no longer just looking at structural changes to diagnose disease and follow its response to treatment. With increasing emphasis on imaging at the cellular or even genetic level, research in the field of biomedical imaging is set to explode.

YB Lee Kah Choon urged the College of Radiology and the ASEAN Association of Radiology to take an active interest in the ensuring research in these areas so that the nations of the region would benefit.

The 12^th AAR began with a pre congress workshop featuring Updates in Ultrasound and was jam-packed with talks, interactive break up sessions and a trade exhibition made up of twenty two international and local exhibitors. Probably for the first time in the region was the post congress workshop on 20^th September 2004 - a leadership course for young radiologists who would be charting the course of Radiology in the future. About two hundred radiologists and allied professionals came from the ASEAN countries as well as from Sri Lanka, Australia, Japan and Switzerland.

The four main areas covered in the congress were interventional radiology (minimally invasive therapeutic procedures), multislice computed tomography (MDCT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography cum computed tomography (PET/CT). The day would begin with breakfast sessions at 7am and conclude with dinner symposia.

The Chief Minister of Penang, YAB Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon graced the luncheon on the 17^th September 2004.

The official dinner, "Pearl of the Orient Nite", was a Malaysian styled barbecue with dances from the State Tourist Development Corporation and a fashion show organised and choreographed by Hideaki Lim – our own Malaysian cyber fashion designer. The official dinner was well attended and the audience thoroughly enjoyed the presentations.

The main congress ended in the late afternoon of 19^th September 2004 with the closing remarks made by Dr P. Sathyamoorthy, the AAR President 2004-2006. New friendships were forged and old ones rejuvenated in addition to gaining the latest knowledge through days of talks from the experts.

Please visit our Media Centre for the official 12^th AAR press release and speeches by the congress officials.

AAR 2004 Official Home Page

AAR 2004 Official Photo Gallery