My early experiences in establishing neonatal screening and the reason for regional meetings of the international society for neonatal screening.

When I started the neonatal screening in Japan, I could not obtain the necessary information for establishing the national screening system in my own country. Thus, around 1970, I visited H. Bickel, R. Guthrie and several other experts in the field of the neonatal screening in USA and Europe. Through their help, I could learn: (i) the philosophy of the world of screening, (ii) the way to improve the basic techniques in this field and (iii) the way to improve the level of screening. On the other hand, I realised that in some countries, people received imprecise information from non-authoritative sources. I also realised that it was difficult for people in developing countries to meet experts of other countries. Therefore, when I was appointed the first president of International Society of Neonatal Screening (ISNS), I proposed to have the regional meetings held in many areas. In this report, I explained how we were asked to establish the national screening system in Japan through the support of experts around the world. I hope that people will understand the reason why I proposed that regional meetings of the ISNS be held in various locations.