Report from the President

Table of Contents

To begin, this is an honour for me to be the President of a prospering Federation such as the European Federation EFSUMB. Only a few highlights of the many activities may be covered in this short report.

Members Societies

At the European Congress in Zagreb, in June 2004, the Latvian Society was accepted into EFSUMB. Therefore, the total number of member societies has increased to 26, comprising more than 17,500 individual members. The Macedonian Society has put forward a formal request for joining the Federation and some other National Societies, mainly from the former Yugoslavian Republic, are in the process for closer interaction with EFSUMB. Relationship and communication with all the member societies is excellent and/or continuously improving.

EUROSON Congress

A very successful EUROSON Congress 2004 was held in Zagreb. Professor Ivan Drinkovic, President of the Croatian Society and Croatian Delegate at the EFSUMB Board of Directors, organised this Congress and together with his team an outstanding program has been created. He has been especially successful in recruiting delegates from countries of the former Eastern European block. The next Congress, EUROSON 2005 in Geneva, will be held in conjunction with the Dreiländertreffen, the annual meeting of the three societies from Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The city of Geneva is situated next to the French border in French speaking part of Switzerland. It is an international crossing-point and is famous for its humanitarian organisations. Dr. J.-Y. Meuwly has taken over the Chairmanship of the Congress. The organisation is very well advanced and we are looking forward to meeting all of you in Geneva. Remember the dates: 25-28 September, 2005. EUROSON 2005 in Geneva will be a decisive meeting, not only from a scientific and educational point of view, but also for the Federation. The 3-year-cycle of the Executive Bureau and of the different Committees will end in September 2005 and the General Assembly will appoint new members of the Executive Bureau and the Committees.

Journal

A Scientific merger was reached. Beginning with the first issue of last year the well established Journal "Ultraschall in der Medizin" and "The European Journal of Ultrasound" were joined. Up to now the Journal was reaching more than 11,500 readers and we believe that this number will increase due to the co-operation with EFSUMB. The Danish and Norwegian Societies have already agreed to a bulk subscription for their members and along with some individual subscribers more than a thousand additional readers rejoice in receiving six issues per year. Negotiations with THIEME Publishers resulted in an extremely low subscription rate of EUR 29, in case of bulk subscription by national societies or EUR 35 for individual subscription (EFSUMB members only). The scientific reputation is still increasing (impact factor 1.47) and the formerly German-speaking "Ultraschall" is in the process of rapid transition to an English-speaking truly European journal. More than 50% of the submitted papers are now in English as compared to less than 10% a year ago.

Contrast Agent Guidelines

EFSUMB initiated an expert meeting on the use of contrast agent in liver disease. Guidelines were written and published in our Journal (Ultraschall in Med 2004; 25: 249-256). This initiative has shown the importance of EFSUMB being the catalyst for co-ordinating exchange of information between experts and industry.

Kurt Jäger

President EFSUMB