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           Dr. Tadasu Sakai broached the idea of establishing a Working Group for Pediatric Nephrology in Asia in Philadelphia in 1980. After 6 years of further talks, core founding members were identified: Drs. Tadasu Sakai and Fumio Yamashita (Japan), KW Ko (Korea), CH Chen (Taiwan), RN Srivastava (India), WQ Kang (China), IGN Wila Wirya (Indonesia), Voranunt Suphipant (Thailand), Indon Lajin (Malaysia) and Carmelo Alfiler (Philippines).

          The historic first symposium on “epidemiology and treatment of renal disease in Asian countries” was held in Tokyo on June 25, 1988. It would be followed by highly successful congresses in Nagoya (1989), Seoul (1991), Taipei (1993), New Delhi (1994), Manila (1996), Singapore (2000), and Jeju (2002).

    

          In 1989, the group became known as the Asian Society of Pediatric Nephrology (ASPN), still with Dr. Sakai as leader. More pioneers joined – Drs. Teruo Kitagawa (Japan), Pauline Wang (China), PK Kim (Korea), MC Chiu (Hongkong), and Wiwat Tapaneya-Olarn (Thailand).

          In 1993, Drs. Kikuo Iitaka, CY Lin and JY Yang were admitted to the council to replace retiring members Drs. Kitagawa, Chen and Wang. It was also in 1993 that the term Asian Congress in Pediatric Nephrology (ACPN) and the ASPN logo were first used.

          The IPNA-ASPN link-up was initiated in 1994 and formalized during the 6th ACPN in Manila on April 21-24, 1996. Manila was the venue for the ratification and signing of the constitution and by-laws of the Asian Pediatric Nephrology Association (AsPNA), the new name of the group. Its first executive council was composed of Drs. Tadasu Sakai, Japan (secretary-general); Carmelo Alfiler, Philippines (assistant secretary-general); Katzumi Ito, Japan (treasurer); and members JY Yang, China; MC Chiu, Hong Kong; RN Srivastava, India; IGN Wila Wirya, Indonesia; Kikuo Iitaka, Japan; Indon Lajin, Malaysia; PK Kim, Korea; CY Lin, Taiwan; and Wiwat Tapaneya-Olarn, Thailand. Later, new member countries Bangladesh, Singapore and Pakistan were admitted through their representatives Mohamed Hanif, HK Yap and Afroze Ramzan, bringing the current country membership to 13 and estimated total AsPNA membership to between 500 and 1000. The AsPNA Chronicle, the official newsletter of AsPNA, made its debut with the May to August 1996 issue detailing the above pioneering developments.

          The aims of AsPNA are (1) to promote the science and art of Pediatric Nephrology in Asia, (2) to maintain the highest level of professional skills and ethics in the practice of the subspecialty, (3) to foster regional camaraderie and cooperation among member nations, and (4) to represent AsPNA in IPNA and other international/regional nephrology endeavors. AsPNA, as one of the 8 regional pediatric nephrology associations within IPNA, covers 27 countries in Modern Asia with a total population of about 3.5 billion of the world’s 6.0 billion. These countries are in East Asia (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Macau, Mongolia, North Korea), Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos), and South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka). For the six years spanning 1996 to 2001, AsPNA collaborated with IPNA on continuing pediatric nephrology education (London 1998 and Seattle 2001 IPNA congresses; Singapore 2000 ACPN; Beijing IPA 2001; lectureships in Manila, Vladivostok and Vietnam), publications (4th and 5th editions of Pediatric Nephrology edited by T. Martin Baratt and E Avner et al, respectively; articles in the Pediatric Nephrology Journal), and other programs like establishing certification standards for competency in Pediatric Nephrology and setting therapeutic standards for the treatment of children with kidney and urologic diseases.

          A new AsPNA Council for 2001-2007 was elected in Seattle, with Drs. Alfiler as secretary-general, HK Yap as assistant secretary-general, and MC Chiu as treasurer. New members include Drs. Jie Ding (China), Kishore Phadke (India), Husein Alatas (Indonesia), Yam Ngo Lim (Malaysia) and Yuhei Ito (Japan). At the same time, five AsPNA members were elected to IPNA Council: HK Yap (Singapore), Jie Ding (china), Arvind Bagga (India), Yong Choi (Korea), and Takashi Igarashi (Japan).

           At this time, AsPNA has fully established itself as one of the important regional societies under IPNA. Three major committees were created to cover more gorund. The Committee on Training and Continuing Education undertakes pediatric renal education through (a) lectures to general pediatricians, family practitioners and allied health staff; (b) subspecialty fellowship programs; and (c) intra- and intersubspecialty courses, via IPNA and ACPN congresses and independent country activities. The Committee on Research & Publications is responsible for research presentations during IPNA, ACPN, IPA, and APSSEAR congresses, multicenter studies, clinical practice guidelines, the AsPNA Chronicle, independent country publications but with possible sharing of resources, the AsPNA Yearbook of Abstracts, and the contribution to the 5th edition of Pediatric Nephrology edited by Ellis Avner etal. The Committee on Administrative Affairs takes care of setting up the AsPNA website, updating the membership directory and generating funds for administrative activities.

          The 8th ACPN Congress in Jeju, Korea on September 9-11, 2002 chaired by Dr. PK Kim was able to gather close to 300 delegated from 25 countries, including first-timers Brunei, Iran, Kuwait, Mongolia, Russia and Uzbekhistan. It was able to provide the seed AsPNA fund amounting to about US$2,500. It was also the venue for the first AsPNA Dumex Research Awards. By November 2003, AsPNA members will participate in the Thailand APSSEAR sessions on pediatric nephrology and urology.

          On August 29 – September 2, 2004, AsPNA participated in the 13th IPNA Congress in Adelaide with one-fourth of the total audience. At this meeting, Saudi Arabia, Nepal and Iran were invited as observers. It will spearhead a pediatric nephrology symposium in Hanoi, and see the launch of the AsPNA website. In 2005, the 9th ACPN will be held in Beijing with Dr. Jie Ding as overall chair. Before the Council’s term ends in 2007, there is a big chance that the AsPNA will have as new member countries Vietnam, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Vladivostok.

          In summary, the AsPNA has developed and grown to become one of IPNA’s most dynamic regional societies, with a mandate to improve the renal health situation of at least 2B infants and adolescents in the world’s biggest continent. The Philippines has been represented in an active way from the very beginning and this representation continues to flourish, thanks to the commitment and dedication of those who share the above noble advocacy with other pediatric nephrologists in Asia.