Welcome Message from the President Malaysian Association for the Study of Pain

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the 12th AOSRA-PM Congress in Kuching Sarawak. The Malaysian Association for the Study of Pain is honored to be given this opportunity to co-host this important biennial event together with the Malaysian Society of Anaesthesiologists and the College of Anaesthesiologists, Academy of Medicine Malaysia.

Pain Medicine is a relatively young field in Malaysia and many of our neighbouring countries, but is rapidly gaining popularity especially in the past decade. New analgesic drugs, new equipment and techniques for neural blockade and other pain relieving procedures as well as a better understanding of basic pain physiology has resulted in many developments in the field of Pain Medicine and more treatment options for patients especially those with severe cancer pain and with chronic non-cancer pain. Advances in techniques of regional blockade also allow us to provide effective analgesia for a greater variety of surgery in a wider range of patients. All these developments make Pain Medicine a growing field which offers exciting possibilities for young doctors. Furthermore, the multidisciplinary nature of Pain Medicine lends another interesting facet to this field as one has the opportunity to work closely with specialists in other fields as well as healthcare professionals from other areas.

Having a conference like the AOSRA-PM gives a great opportunity to Malaysians as well as doctors and health professionals in the region to get together to update themselves on the latest developments in the field of Regional Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, and also provides an opportunity for our doctors to present some of the work that they have done through posters and oral free paper presentations. I hope that all participants will benefit from the scientific sessions as well as enjoy the social events, and also take some time to see a bit of beautiful Kuching and its surroundings.

I wish you a pleasant stay in Kuching and a fruitful conference.

Dr Mary Suma Cardosa