Patient Education Network Launched in China and France

Translated versions of the Lab Tests Online website will provide people in China and France with access to free, noncommercial, peer-reviewed information on laboratory testing in their native languages.

Formal ceremonies marked the launch of Lab Tests Online-CN on November 6, 2009, the second day of the 8th National Conference of the Society of Laboratory Medicine and the 30th Year Anniversary Celebration (Beijing, China), which was sponsored by the Chinese Society of Laboratory Medicine (CLSM; Beijing, China). The conference took place on November 5-7, 2009, at Beijing International Convention Center. CSLM is the largest professional society in China devoted to the practice of laboratory medicine.

Following the model established by the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, CSLM has assumed all editorial responsibilities for translating the content of Lab Tests Online and adapting it to reflect Chinese policies, practice, and specific health concerns. Due to the large areas of China that lack Internet access, CSLM will provide a print version of the site.

AACC president Barbara Goldsmith, who spoke at the launch ceremony in Beijing, remarked, "It is truly humbling to celebrate the fruits of our first collaboration with CSLM, an organization that is half a planet removed from us, and to recognize again that Lab Tests Online has indeed become a global standard for patient education."

On the same day, the French Society of Clinical Biochemistry (SFBC) celebrated the launch of Lab Tests Online-FR at the Annual Conference of the International Journal of Biology (Journées Internationales de Biologie), which took place from November 4-6, 2009, at CNIT La Defense, Paris (France). The launch event was held in the Café Scientifique at the meeting. Presentations were made by Etienne Caniard of the French National Authority for Health (Paris, France) and Christine Tarrajat, Secretary General of the European Diagnostic Manufacturers Association (EDMA; Brussels, Belgium). EDMA and its affiliated national trade associations have sponsored Lab Tests Online in nine countries in Europe.

D. Robert Dufour, M.D., executive editor of Lab Tests Online, and the newly elected treasurer of AACC also spoke during the launch ceremony. "Information, and especially medical information, is much easier to understand if it is presented in one's native language. After today," he continued, referencing the earlier launch in China as well, "Lab Tests Online will be available to more than one-third of the world's population in their everyday language."

AACC is a professional society dedicated to improving healthcare through laboratory medicine. Its nearly 10,000 members are clinical laboratory professionals, physicians, research scientists, and others involved in developing tests and directing laboratory operations.

Related Links:
American Association for Clinical Chemistry
Lab Tests Online-CN
Lab Tests Online-FR
French National Authority for Health
European Diagnostic Manufacturers Association