Dear members, With the launching of population screening for cervical cancer in 2003, our Society envisaged an increased demand for smear takers and colposcopists. Our Society has developed criteria for accreditation for smear takers (document - STA-1) and is now inviting submission for accreditation. After attaining the requirement for accreditation, smear takers can apply for a certificate from our Society at a nominal fee of HKD 300. A re-certification is required triennially upon submission of an audit of the cytology outcome and 6 CNE or CME points. For nurse practitioners, a satisfactory performance certified by a medical practitioner is required as well. The list of accredited smear takers would be published on the Web of our Society. Our Society in conjunction with the Hong Kong College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (HKCOG) has developed a training programme for colposcopists (document- COTP-1). In order to ensure the quality of colposcopists, our Society and the HKCOG have set down accreditation criteria for the certification of colposcopists (document - CO-3). Application will be accepted until end of 2004 (document - COA-1). Successful applicants would receive a certificate issued jointly by our Society and HKCOG at a nominal fee of HKD500. The list of accredited colposcopists will be published on the Web of our Society as well as that of the HKCOG. Re-accreditation is required triennially and details on the re-accreditation are being refined. Before our training programme could be introduced, we need to accredit trainers and training centres. The criteria for accreditation of trainers (document - CO-5) have been established jointly by our Society and HKCOG. And it is now open for application (document - COA-2). Submission of an audit report on the performance of the Centres within 2 years of application (document - COA-4) is required for the accreditation of the Centres. The standard and quality of a colposcopy centre (document CO-1) have also been established jointly by our Society and HKCOG. Details can be found on the Web. This is a big moment for Hong Kong. Population screening for cervical cancer has been talked about for over 20 years and now we are about to witness its realization in Hong Kong. Without good quality control, the programme will fail. I would like to ask all our members to support a programmed training and accreditation of smear takers and colposcopists. Let us show the public and other medical professionals that we are striving to ensure the best quality and highest standard of our members and make our population screening the most successful in the world. Prof. Hextan YS Ngan President