Newsletter EUPSA

A successful European Congress of Paediatric Surgery has recently concluded (Gdańsk, Poland, May 2005) while we fast approach the date for the next EUPSA Congress to be held in Maastricht, The Netherlands, May 10 - 13, 2006.

The Gdańsk meeting was the first of, hopefully, many future continental congresses, which was organised by the “new” EUPSA. We thank the Gdańsk-team, led by Professor Stoba and Piotr Czauderna, for their hard work. The meeting was most certainly a great success. Nearly 400 participants attended from all over Europe and other parts of the world (making up more than 10 % of the total participants).

There was a good balance between clinical papers and scientific communications. The Rehbein Medal, the highest ranking award for an European paediatric surgeon, was awarded to Prof. Alois Schärli (Luzern, Switzerland) for his lifetime achievements and his enormous impact on the development of paediatric surgery in Europe. Prem Puri of Dublin held the European lecture - a presentation which was awarded for its outstanding research content. The Duhamel lecture was delivered by Pierre Mouriquand of Lyon for his advanced level of clinical work in the field of paediatric urology and surgery. Besides the regular presentations, 6 meet-the-expert lunches, two seminars (paediatric surgical oncology and appendicitis) and a postgraduate course (how to prepare a manuscript) were held. We are glad to tell you that all events went “full house”.

“The King is Dead, Long Live the King.”

The Local Organising Committee of the Dutch colleagues, led by Ernest von Heurn (Maastricht), are working on the preparation of the next European Congress (Maastricht, The Netherlands, May 10 - 13, 2006). The interest in the meeting, thusfar, is immense from Europe and other countries, too.

The Maastricht Congress will have a structure similar to the Gdańsk EUPSA Congress, thus attempting to establish a long-lasting tradition. On the day before the Congress (May 9, Wednesday), 2 parallel seminars are planned. One will again deal with surgical oncology (but with other tumours), while the other will be dedicated to laparoscopy. On Friday early-afternoon, a 2-hour intensive course will deal with gastro-oesophageal reflux. Meet-the-expert lunches will be held by internationally recognised experts from the USA, Africa and Europe. Friday and Saturday early-morning courses will again discuss the preparation of a manuscript, including the important question of ethical considerations.

These days, the attendance costs of large international events are growing rapidly and unaffordable for many of us. Therefore, the EUPSA is strongly determined to keep prices low, even if it might make the work of the local organisers more difficult.

Early registration for EUPSA members will not change and it will be 250 EUR again. The local organisers will offer moderately cheap accomodations for those members who arrive from countries with a low economy.

Even the relatively low 250 EUR registration fee might be high for young colleagues from the Central and Eastern European countries. Therefore, the EUPSA will support a limited number of young colleagues (less than 35 years and EUPSA members) with 150 EUR. This means that if a prospective participant applies for support and their application is accepted, then they will only have to pay 100 EUR for registration, the rest (150 EUR) will be covered by the EUPSA.

Regarding the Maastricht Congress, more details are available on the EUPSA homepage (www.eupsa.org).

Recently 2 successful meetings were organised by EUPSA approval and accreditation (International Paediatric Urology and Nephrology Update, Heidelberg, Germany, September 15 - 17, 2005 and Strategies and Trends in European Paediatric Surgery Abdominal Wall Defects, Münster, Germany, September 23 - 24, 2005). The first event was organised by Professors Waag and Dr. Hadidi, the second occasion by Dr. Saxena (Graz, Austria). Both meetings were well organised and of good clinical and scientific value.

The scheme “Bring a book and help more surgically sick children” was successful in Gdańsk. During the Gdańsk meeting, books were donated and distributed amongst colleagues. I hope that this donation will continue in the future as well. Recently, Prem Puri donated 10 new or not-too-old books to colleagues in Moldavia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Ukraine and Belarus. If you have a paediatric surgical book which is not outdated and you seem not to need this book, then kindly send me the details of this publication (title, authors, year of publication and number of pages) via E-mail: [e-mail]. I shall then forward you the name and address of a colleague to whom you may send your book.

In the last months, EUPSA invested in a new databank structure and a new web site. This will help us keep our members informed, also inform the public about activities of our organisation.

This is the first Newsletter of the new President and the newly elected Secretary. Now, we should say a huge thank you to Professor Höllwarth for his excellent job of establishing the renewed EUPSA. We are very grateful to him for his extraordinary achievement.

Now, to cheer you all up, we would like to inform you that we shall release a Newsletter every 3 months from now onwards - the next Newsletter hits the stalls early January 2006. Till, we wish you all a safe and delightful festive season. Take care of yourselves and the children we care for.

Andrew B. Pintér

President of EUPSA

Jürgen Schleef

Secretary of EUPSA