Of course, the marked epidemiological increase of allergic diseases during the same period has also contributed to the increased recognition of allergy as a public health problem. 1995 to 2000: Toward a World Allergy Organization The relatively closely sellckchem knit group of IAACI presidents and Executive Committee members, who were mostly heavily engaged in allergology practice, had opened since 1980 the door of ICACI scientific congresses to other purposes than mere scientific exchanges. These lateral activities had, however, a limited scope. First, they were devoted to goals, which had possibly a broad clinical impact, such as standardization or mite allergy, but which were involving only a limited number of highly specialized individuals.

Second, these activities were hardly attractive or important for the pharmaceutical industry, and it was difficult to find financial sponsors. At the same time, the character and needs of ICACI congresses began to change. In the early days, the main or sole purpose was a multidisciplinary exchange of scientific information among professionals who, for the most part, had not been primarily trained as allergists. Then, increasingly, generations of physicians and biologists primarily trained in allergy found in IAACI and in their national allergy societies their sole professional family. These had therefore to satisfy not only scientific but also professional needs, particularly in terms of postgraduate education, postgraduate courses, and the like.

It was also soon realized that, particularly in view of allergic diseases becoming a growing public health problem, the small number of specialized allergists would never suffice to ensure appropriate diagnosis and treatment of millions of allergic patients worldwide. For that purpose, it was imperative to provide proper education on modern allergy concepts and techniques to related medical specialties (pneumologists, internists, pediatricians, dermatologists, otorhinolaryngologists, and ophthalmologists) but also and foremost to general practitioners. Last but not least, it was necessary to provide allergy education to paramedical personnel (nurses), to teachers and parents of allergic children, and to the allergic patients themselves. This represents an enormous task worldwide and a quasi-total departure from the former limited frame of IAACI as a scientific and medical association.

This evolution represented also playing in a different league in terms of logistics and economics. Since 1993, the IAACI developed together with Carfilzomib pharmaceutical industrial partners ambitious educational programs [eg, World Allergy Forum, Perspectives of Allergy (see section on Special Projects and the WHO)] aimed at a broader audience and costing several hundreds of thousands of US dollars.