The south Asia federation of obstetrics and gynecology was formed in the year 1995 with the countries India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka getting together & having a preliminary meeting on the 7Th September 1995 at Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The Federation was officially formed on 29th November 1996 The aim of the Federation was to bring together the Obstetricians & Gynecologists in the south Asian region i.e. India, Pakistan & Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh & Maldives for closer cooperation & social understanding, to develop the concept of Reproductive health & also to promote exchange of ideas & sharing of knowledge of skills & attitudes. It was also proposed to bring about uniformity in Medical postgraduate training in this region. It was decided to cooperate with other International & organizations concerned with reproductive health.

The representatives from the India who are involved at this stage were Dr.Shrirish Sheth, Dr. D. K. Tank & Dr. Kamal Bakshi along with Dr. R. P. Sonawalla, Dr. N. N. Roychowdhury & Dr. Alokendu Chatterjee. Professor Rashid Latif Khan of Pakistan was elected the first president of the SAFOG.

The Conference of the SAFOG is held every 4 years, the first conference was held in Lahore in 1996, the second conference in Sri Lanka in 1998. FAGSI & MUMBAI OBGY society organized the third conference in 2002, Dr. D. K. Tank was elected as the president, Dr. Duru Shah was organizing chairperson, Dr. Shyam Desai & Dr. P.K. Shah were organizing secretaries.

Dr. Alukendu Chatterjee has been the Secretary of Research & Secretary of Education in the past. He is at present the vice president of SAFOG,
Dr. Shyam Desai was the Deputy Secretary general since the year 2002 & at present he is the Secretary general of the SAFOG. FOGSI representatives to the SAFOG council are at present Dr. Pankaj Desai past president of FOGSI, Dr. C. N. Purandare Secretary general FOGSY, Dr. Jayant Rath Chairperson of international academic exchange committee, Dr. Narendra Malhotra currently the President of FOGSI is now the Editor of the Journal and in charge of the website of the organization.

The Federation of OB Gyn Societies of India by virtue of being the body with a large membership is active in the SAFOG with resources as far as infrastructure and Faculty are concerned in the recent past Training programs involving members from neighboring countries have been held in subspecialties such as USG, Endoscopic surgery and Infertility.

Dr. Uash Saraiya and Dr. Maya Lulla conducted a Colposcopy Workshop in Kathmandu and Dr. Kurien Joseph Dr. Rekha Kurien and Dr. Shyam Desai conduced Endoscopic surgery workshops in Colombo, Dhaka, Lahore and Kathmandu.
In December 2007 FOGSI SAFOG & RCOG organized the conference in Calcutta which was Chaired by Dr. Alokendu Chatterjee & Professor Farukh Zaman Pakistan. The Organising Secretaries were Dr. P. Das Mahapatra and Dr. Shyam Desai. It was a very successful Secretaries meeting & was attended by large numbers of International experts. At the end of conference a publication entitiled “MATERNAL HEALTH IN SOUTH ASIA” was published based on the statistics of Health indices presented in the Conference.

It has been decided to hold a SOUTH ASIA day with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in London in July 2009. This give a platform for members of various countries in the Organization to present their country statistics and also for the Organization top get more recognition among the International bodies. It is also proposed to have a Representative of SAFOG at the FIGO executive Board meeting so that a direct link between the two Organizations can be established.

At present under the president ship of Prof Farrukh Zaman several opportunities are created for interaction between Ob Gyn Specialists of the various countries and invitations to local Conferences of members bodies are extended to the other Nations. The South Asia federation also has a session at the National conference of the Members bodies where the topical regional issues are discussed.

The comradarie that exists between the delegates at the South Asia fereration meeting is encouraging and augurs well for the continuation of efforts towards meeting goals as far as Maternal health and child health are concerned.