Origins of AVS In the early 1990s, John B Chang and Yoshio Mishima saw in their meetings and discussions the importance of a society for surgeons in Asia practicing vascular surgery. At the 6th International Vascular Conference held at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul in 1992, the society’s founding members, John B Chang (USA), YongKak Lee (Korea), Yoshio MIshima (Japan) and ZhongGao Wang (China) discussed the formation of the society. It was at the meeting that the association was established, leading to the birth of the Asian Vascular Society (AVS).

Asian Society of Vascular Diseases (ASVS)

ASVS

History

Origin of AVS

In the early 1990s, John B Chang and Yoshio Mishima saw in their meetings and discussions the importance of a society for surgeons in Asia practicing vascular surgery. At the 6th International Vascular Conference held at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul in 1992, the society’s founding members, John B Chang (USA), YongKak Lee (Korea), Yoshio MIshima (Japan) and ZhongGao Wang (China) discussed the formation of the society. It was at the meeting that the association was established, leading to the birth of the Asian Vascular Society (AVS).

AVS OPENING MEETING, LOTTE HOTEL, SEOUL, KOREA 1992

FOUNDERS (LR) JB CHANG, Y MISHIMA, YK LEE, ZG WANG

LOGO OF THE ASIAN VASCULAR ASSOCIATION

HISTORY OF THE ASIAN HEMOTHERAPY ASSOCIATION

When AVS was founded, the first Congress of the Asian Vascular Society was held in 1994 in Ube, Japan. Then there was the Association’s biennial Congress. They are held in different cities in Asia; Seoul, South Korea (1996), Beijing, China (1998), Manila, Philippines (2000), Singapore (2002) and Bangalore, India (2004).

FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE ASIAN HEMOvascular ASSOCIATION, UBE, JAPAN, 1994

6th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE ASIAN HEMOTHERAPY ASSOCIATION, BANGALORE, INDIA, 2004

Origins of the Asian Society for Vascular Surgery (ASVS)

At the Council meeting in Singapore in 2002, there were proposals to restructure society to keep up with the changing times. Among other things, it was proposed that the society’s constitution and by-laws be updated to have registered members, office bearers and an executive committee in addition to the Council.

Subsequently, several further meetings of the Council were held to discuss the changes to be made. Meetings were held in Tokyo, Japan in March 2003 and Hong Kong in November 2003. After much deliberation, the society’s new structure was formed. A new constitution was written to incorporate the necessary changes. To accommodate these changes, Nobuyuki Nakajima proposed changing the organization’s name to the Asian Society of Vascular Surgery.

The 2004 board meeting in Bangalore approved changing the name of the association from AVS to ASVS. It is also agreed that the ASVS is a continuation of the AVS and not a new society. The spirit and history of AVS will remain intact and the association’s logo will not be changed.

The final draft of the constitution was completed in Jeju, South Korea in April 2005. The draft constitution was then presented to the Assembly. These have been approved and passed. It was also agreed that the Secretariat would be located in Tokyo and Hiroshi Shigematsu was elected as the first Secretary General with BoYang Suh as Treasurer. Stephen WK Cheng replaced him as Treasurer in 2007 when he resigned from the council.

JUNE 2005 ASAHIKAWA, H SHIGETMATSU, N NAKAJIMA (LR)

THE DRAFT CONSTITUTION IS COMPLETED! 0200HOUR, APRIL 29, 2005, JEJU, KOREA (LR) K SURESH, S CHENG, YP LEONG, T MIYATA

After an unsuccessful attempt to register ASVS as an association in Japan, ASVS was officially registered as a ‘Company Limited by Guarantee’ in Hong Kong in April 2008. The Charter (drafted in Jeju in April 2005) was amended to become a Memorandum & Articles of Association (M&A) for the purposes of Company registration. The spirit of the constitution was retained. Stephen WK Cheng, Hiroshi Shigematsu and Yew-Pung Leong are the three subscribers to the society.

The 7th International Congress of the Asian Society for Vascular Surgery in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was the association’s first congress under the new name. Since then, congresses have been held in Shanghai, China (2007), Bangkok, Thailand (2008), Busan, South Korea (2009), Kyoto, Japan (2010) and Taipei, Taiwan (2011). ASVS held its first congress outside Asia ( 13th Congress ) in 2012 in Melbourne, Australia in a joint meeting with the Australian and New Zealand Society for Vascular Surgery.

THE 7TH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE ASIAN VASCULAR ASSOCIATION DECLARED OPENING, KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, 2006

CONGRESS PARTY AT THE 11TH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE ASIAN HEMOvascular ASSOCIATION, KYOTO, JAPAN, 2010

Under the leadership of Hiroshi Shigematsu as Secretary General, the association expanded to include member states from the Middle East. His work and that of Nobuyuki Nakajima also raised the bar and social recognition. ASVS truly became an association of the Asian continent, It was embraced by international vascular societies such as the World Federation of Vascular Societies (WFVS) and the International Society for Vascular Surgery (ISVS).

The official journal of AVS has been the Asian Journal of Surgery since 1998. At a meeting of the Council in November 2005 in Bangkok, Nobuyuki Nakajima proposed that ASVS publish its own journal. He worked tirelessly to achieve this, Annals of Vascular Diseases became the official journal of the society in October 2008. It is also the official journal of the Japanese Vascular College, the Japanese Society for Vascular Surgery and the Japanese Phlebology Society. Nakajima became its first Editor-in-Chief, later taken over by Tetsuro Miyata.

At the 2009 council meeting in Busan, South Korea, President-elect Hiroshi Shigematsu resigned as Secretary General. The Council elected Stephen WK Cheng as the new Secretary General and Yew-Pung Leong as Treasurer. It was also agreed to move the Secretariat to Hong Kong.

March, 2013

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