ASEAN Orthopaedic Association (AOA)

The year 1979 marked the inception of an association that would later be known as the ASEAN Orthopaedic Association, or AOA.

The idea came about when several orthopaedic surgeons gathered in an informal discussion, an offshoot of the formal Indonesian Orthopaedic Association (IOA) Annual Scientific Congress being held that year in Bandung, Indonesia. Sprung from that casual communication was the idea of organizing themselves to have a more formal exchange of orthopaedic knowledge and concerns. Prof Soelarto Reksoprodjo of IOA, Dr Jose M. Pujalte of the Philippines, and some members of the Thailand and Singapore Orthopaedic Association were in that informal gathering and decided to formally organize themselves and form one association where Dr. Pujalte was given that task for a period of one year. And the date was set, February 26, 27 and 28, 1981 – after three days of a rigorous organizational meeting at the Army and Navy Club of Manila, the ASEAN Orthopaedic Association (AOA) was born. And during those 3 days in February and after extensive brainstorming, the AOA mission-vision, Constitution and By-Laws was drafted. The Officers who will carry the torch were also elected. The 5-member nations that founded the AOA are Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.