Report of the IOA President

There was meeting of Surgeons & ETs of Asian Society of Stoma Rehabilitation (ASSR) in KL, Malaysia. I was invited to speak in a Symposium of six surgeons from respective countries. I gave our Experience in Visitors training program in India. ASSR is a organization of Surgeons & ETs of Asian countries interested in improving the QOL of ostomates in Asia. They organize such meetings every two years in Asia usually along with meeting of Federation of Colorectal surgeons of Asia. It is always a very meaningful meeting & usually about 300 participants attend these meetings.

IOA EC meeting was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia which was sponsored by the industry partners. The high light was that at the same city of  Ljubljana, WCET also had their world meeting.

It was that meeting the ratification of the recommendation of the task force of IOA appointed in 2007 at Puerto Rico that next world council meeting of IOA will take place in Bangkok in 2010. IOA EC had chance to meet the newly elected WCET office bearers. For the first time industry partners also met the entire IOA EC & heard the plans to do specific projects which they agreed to fund on a yearly basis. They conveyed clearly that they will not sponsors the world meetings of IOA as they have done in the past.

Prof Carlo Pezcoller, Di Bracken  I took part as a teaching team under the project  “Lions for Stoma Care ‘’ sponsored by Lions of Modena & District 108 Tb. We went to Santacruz , Bolivia to conduct a four days workshop on stoma care about 50 nurses & doctors from Bolivia, Peru & Paraguay attended this.

Soon after this workshop ALADO EC met in Santacruz , Bolivia where part of ISCAP training & Visitors guidelines were presented by Di Bracken, Doug Graham & myself to the members present so that in turn they can do the same in their countries. Astrid Graham presented work of FOW Canada in these meetings.

Di Bracken, Barry Maughan & myself attended the AOA congress in Tokyo where all the member countries of Asia participated long with almost 300 members of JOA. John Cardosa, the president & long term member of AOA/ IOA who has contributed a lot for the  QOL of ostomates in Asian countries was falicitated & he announced his official retirement from the active membership due to health issues.

At this meeting preliminary review of IOA EC Online meeting was done by three of us to be implemented in 2009 if approved by IOA EC.