The Academy was launched at the same time as the national university by government minister, Bernardino Rivadavia, in 1822 and it is the oldest academy in the Americas. The mission of this Academy is to examine scientific and technical problems related to medicine, especially issues related to public health; it promotes scientific research;  it expresses its opinion publicly on matters of special interest to medicine in general. There are 35 full members, 11 national honorary members, 68 national corresponding members,  58 foreign honorary members and 197  foreign corresponding members. Full members are elected by their peers through a strict mechanism of election as dictated by the Statute.   Major current activities include lectures, awards and scholarships, a public library, scientific research and medical care. The Academy awards prizes, it offers competitive research grants for individuals and institutions and publishes the  Boletín de la Academia Nacional de Medicina (biannual) A series of exchange programmes are carried out especially with Latin-American and Spanish Academies. The Academy participates in science or health education projects in consultations with public institutions.