To all members of the International Ostomy Association

Well the world is over two years into the Covid – 19 Pandemic and there is still a huge amount of confusion in many countries over vaccines. New Zealand has been very lucky in that the Government shut the boarders very swiftly and we have had a few lockdowns but now that the vaccines are available there are being given out at a rapid rate and both my wife Beverly and I have had our two vaccinations with little in the way of side effects and I urge any that have not had them to go ahead and get them as soon as possible. I foresee a far different world in the future to the one that we left behind a couple of years ago with overseas travel being a lot more restricted than we could have ever imagined.

However, in the world of ostomy things appear to be just motoring onwards and associations are simply having to alter the way they do things in order to help Ostomates everywhere. The Asia and South Pacific Ostomy Association had our House of Delegates meeting late last year by way of a Zoom conference and this worked well but I am sure thatwe all missed the face to face contact that we normally have.

The next ASPOA HOD will be held in New Zealand in September of 2023 in the City of Rotorua and will be combined with the normal Conference of Ostomy New Zealand. This event is well into the planning stage and I will say that Ostomates from anywhere in theworld are welcome to attend and combine the event with a great NZ holiday.

The EOA Congress is being held on 27-31 October, 2021 with the place being Garda. More information will be available on the Congress website: https://www.eoacongress2021.info/.

World Ostomy Day is this time around being organised by the EOA region and the motto for the WOD 2021 is: “Ostomates’ Rights are Human Rights – anytime and anywhere!” Contact the EOA secretary for more info on this event.