Under the able leaderships of our previous presidents: Dr. Kwan-tong So, Dr. Alfred Tam and Dr. Daniel Ng, the Society has made substantial development since its establishment in 1997. This year, we collaborated with the Asian Paediatric Respirology Interest Group to hold the first Asian Paediatric Repirology Forum together with our Annual Scientific Meeting, which attracted more than 220 registered candidates from over 10 countries. We are honoured to have Dr. Wing-man Ko, Secretary for Food and Health, present as the officiating guest of the event. We also congratulate Dr. Alfred Tam who received the first Honorary Fellowship of the Society in the meeting.

There were more than 50 participants who attended the highly evaluated Post-ASM NIV workshop on 7 October 2013. The Practical Beginner Ultrasound Workshop for P/NICU held in Kwong Wah Hospital on 8 December 2013 was a great success. Thanks to Dr. Eric Chan and Kwong Wah Hospital for their great effort.

The recent incidences of fatal complicated pneumonia caused by serotype 3 streptococcus pneumoniae and documented case of H7N9 adds challenges to all of you working in public and private sectors. However, I hope that the new council of the HKSPR will continue to have your full support in organizing future activities.

Dr. Ting-yat Miu

President

(Oct 2013)

I am delighted and honoured to be elected the President of the Society in the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 9 October 2005. The Society was founded in 1997 to promote the development of paediatric respirology and critical care. Under Dr. So Kwan-tong, the founding President, the Society worked hard to arouse the interest in these areas with success. Further development was achieved under Dr. Alfred Tam, who led the Society for six years. Alfred was instrumental in establishing the Society its present leading position in Hong Kong and Asia. The successful hosting of the International Pediatric Respiratory, Allergy and Immunology Congress (IPRAIC) by the Society in 2004 would not have been possible without the vision and perseverance of Alfred.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. So and Dr. Tam for their contributions. Behind them were a group of dedicated office bearers and council members who have been working hard to promote the works of the Society. I thank them all from the bottom of my heart. I would like to build on the past success and push for further development in the areas of paediatric respirology. I see three main areas that the Society should focus on in the coming years, i.e. research, training, and accreditation. Original clinical research is essential for development of paediatric respirology and it should not be confined to the university units. I hope to encourage more collaborative research projects both in the HA hospitals and the private sector. Collaborative research projects would provide the platform for mutual understanding. This is essential to develop a common training program for the whole of Hong Kong with different hospitals playing different parts in it. It is extremely important for this Society to help train recognized paediatric sub-specialists in the areas of paediatric respirology or it will never occur. Eventually, these "specialist in paediatric respirology" should be formally accredited by the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine. The process of research, training, and accreditation would be an arduous one but its success is assured if we all work toward this goal.

Dr. Daniel Ng
President

(Oct 2005)