South East Asian Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (SEAFOMP) was officially formed when it was accepted as a regional chapter of the

International Organization for Medical Physics The International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP) is a professional organization for medical physics with nearly 22,000 members in 84 countries. Objectives and History IOMP is charged with a mission to advance medical physics practice wo ...

(IOMP) at the World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, held in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, in 2000. The founding member countries of SEAFOMP were

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. Two other

ASEAN The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonly abbreviated as ASEAN, is a regional grouping of 10 states in Southeast Asia "that aims to promote economic and security cooperation among its ten members." Together, its member states r ...

countries joined SEAFOMP in 2002 (

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

) and 2005 (

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

). SEAFOMP was established with the primary aim of helping raise the profile of medical physics in

via education and training. The objectives of SEAFOMP are to promote (i) cooperation and communication between medical physics organizations in the region; (ii) medical physics and related activities in the region; (iii) the advancement in status and standard of practice of the medical physics profession; (iv) to organize and/or sponsor international and regional conferences, meetings or courses; (v) to collaborate or affiliate with other scientific organizations. Since then, the initiative has been supported by many international organisations, including the

American Association of Physicists in Medicine The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is a scientific, educational, and professional organization of Medical Physicists. In 2011, it absorbed the American College of Medical Physics. Their headquarters are located at 1631 Pri ...

(AAPM), the

(IOMP), the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology, nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was ...

(IAEA), the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

(WHO), and

International Center for Theoretical Physics The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) is a research center for physical and mathematical sciences, located in Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The center operates under a tripartite agreement between the Ita ...

(ICTP). The support is primarily financial, via provisions of co-sponsorship of workshops and conferences, travel grants, medical physics libraries programs, and research experts and educators for educational activities. SEAFOMP has organised a series of congresses to promote scientific exchange and mutual support among its members. The South East Asian Congress for Medical Physics (SEACOMP) series were held respectively in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, 2001 and 2004), Thailand (Bangkok, 2003; Chiang Mai, 2009), Indonesia (Jakarta, 2006; Bandung, 2010), The Philippines (Manila, 2007; Manila & Bohol, 2011) and Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, 2008). It also has adopted Biomedical Imaging and Intervention Journal as its official publication.

References

Medical physics organizations International organizations based in Asia {{Asia-org-stub

See also

References