British Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC)

The British Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC) was founded in 1971 as a result of a general feeling that an interdisciplinary forum was needed in Britain for the discussion and development of antimicrobial chemotherapy, a field dealing with the treatment of parasitic infections using antibacterial drugs. The Society's Council meets several times a year, as do its Committees and working parties, the minutes of which can be found in this collection (Section A). The reports of these working parties have proved to be very influential in the field of chemotherapy, several having been published in major medical journals. This collection contains examples of some of these (Section D). The spring and autumn meetings of the BSAC, as well as the joint meetings and international symposia have also been important in publicising the field and forging links with other bodies (see Section B). The Society hosted the ninth International Congress of Chemotherapy (ICC) in 1975 and was successful in its bid to host the 21st ICC in Birmingham in 1999 (see item E.6).

The recent past has seen the Society's membership and influence grow. The inauguration of the L P Garrod annual lecture in 1982, named after Lawrence Paul Garrod (1895-1979), a renowned bacteriologist and world figure in the study of hospital infection and antibiotics, as well as the awarding of the international Umezawa Prize of the International Society of Chemotherapy to a BSAC Council member in 1990, demonstrate the Society's growing importance. The development of the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy and the newsletter (sections A.5 and C) have added to the Society's national and international prestige.