Newsletter EUPSA

I am greatly honoured and full of deep emotion at taking on the prestigious and responsible position of being president of EUPSA. What I can promise you is that together with the Executive Board of EUPSA, with the Chairmen and members of the offices and with the nearly 700 members of the EUPSA I will serve our speciality in Europe and outside of our continent to the best of my ability.

The challenge is huge. The EUPSA is now a rapidly growing toddler and like any toddler is very sensitive to any diseases. We have to protect it from any type of trauma, because it is still very young, therefore we have to intervene in areas which do not serve but interfere with the healthy development of our protected toddler. Learning this is a long and continuous process.

I am sure that everybody does share my opinion that Michael Höllwarth has made an excellent job of establishing the renewed and reshaped EUPSA and fostering its infancy and has achieved a lot in a short period. We are very grateful to him for this extraordinary achievement.

A few words about future plans. The main goal of the EUPSA will be primarily to strengthen our achievements which have been instituted and developed over the last 2 years, and only secondarily to make further progress.

We have to improve the communication between members and the Executive Board and Offices, and amongst the members. This means a more effective database, fresh Newsletters, and first of all a more informative and interactive homepage. Hopefully we can establish scholarships for junior colleagues - mainly from countries with poor economy - from 1 to 6 months duration.

We have to support the activity of offices and involve more members into the activity of the EUPSA. The success of Graz, Madrid, Budapest, Tours and Gdañsk Congresses obliges us to organise high level annual congresses. Besides that we have to organise workshops and courses where they are needed. Our task will be to further improve the cooperation between UEMS and EUPSA, and between EUPSA and the national paediatric surgical associations in spite of the fact that the EUPSA is now an association of individual paediatric surgeons.

And finally we must pay special attention to the paediatric surgery in the Eastern European countries because the gap between the Western and Eastern part of Europe is still huge. Assistance to paediatric surgeons of Eastern Europe must be extended in various ways.

For all the future work of EUPSA I request your help, support and tons of patience.

Andrew B. Pintér

President of EUPSA