Asian Pacific Association of Gastroenterology

Report 2002

I.	PREAMBLE
	This Annual Report of the Asian Pacific Association of Gastroenterology (APAGE) covers the period from January 1 to December 31, 2002.
II.	MEMBERSHIP
	The Association's membership consisted of the following national societies/bodies of the Asian Pacific region: Bangladesh Gastroenterological Society Gastroenterological Society of Australia Gastroenterological Society of Singapore Gastroenterological & Digestive Endoscopy Society of Sri Lanka Hong Kong Society of Gastroenterology Indian Society of Gastroenterology Indonesian Society of Gastroenterology Korean Society of Gastroenterology Malaysian Society of Gastroenterology & Hepatology Myanmar GI and Liver Society New Zealand Society of Gastroenterology Pakistan Society of Gastroenterology and GI Endoscopy Philippine Society of Gastroenterology The Chinese Society of Gastroenterology The Chinese Taiwan Gastroenterological Society The Gastroenterological Association of Thailand The Japanese Society of Gastroenterology Vietnam Society of Gastroenterology
	With the admission of the Myanmar GI and Liver Society, total number of member societies of APAGE was at 18.
1.	The following were the Council Members for the 2002 session:-
	Professor Shiu Kum Lam	President	Hong Kong
	Professor Kwong Ming Fock	Vice-President	Singapore
	Professor Ken Kimura	Secretary-General	Tochigi
	Dr. Wai Mo Hui	Treasurer	Hong Kong
	Professor Ding Shinn Chen	Chairman, Programme Advisory Committee	Taipei
	Dr. Mark Lane	Chairman, Ethics Committee	Auckland
	Professor Shu Dong Xiao	Chairman, International Liaison Committee President, APDW2004	Shanghai
	Professor Jose Sollano	Chairman, Awards Committee	Manila
	Professor Neville Yeomans	Chairman, Education & Research Committee	Victoria
	Dr. Chin Kong Yap	President, APDW2003	Singapore
	Professor Hardjodisastro Daldiyono	Member	Jakarta
	Professor Janaka De Silva	Member	Ragama
	Dr. Khean Lee Goh	Member	Kuala Lumpur
	Professor Mahmud Hasan	Member	Dhaka
	Professor Muhammas Saeed Khokhar	Member	Lahore
	Professor Masaki Kitajima	Member	Tokyo
	Professor Pinit Kullavanijaya	Member	Bangkok
	Professor San Ren Lin	Member	Beijing
	Professor Xuan Huyen Nguyen	Member	Hanoi
	Professor In Sung Song	Member	Seoul
	Professor Rakesh Tandon	Member	New Delhi
	Professor Khin Maung Win	Member	Yangon
	Professor Geoffrey Farrell	Representative, Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology Foundation	Sydney
2.	During the year, the APAGE had one Council Meeting, an Annual General Meeting (AGM) and one meeting of the APDW Steering Committee.
III.	APAGE HEADQUARTERS & SECRETARIAT
	The APAGE Headquarters & Permanent Secretariat continued to operate in the shared office of the Hong Kong Society of Gastroenterology at Room 1203 Bank of America Tower, 12 Harcourt Road, Central, Hong Kong. The President and Members of the Hong Kong Society of Gastroenterology agreed to extend to APAGE the free use of its Secretariat Office for another term expiring in March/April 2004. Through its Headquarters in Hong Kong, the Association continued to carry out its primary objectives of promoting the advancement of gastroenterology and making the Asian Pacific region excel in education and research in this field. These were achieved through the coordinated and collaborative efforts of organizations, individual members, the BMI and other authorities interested in digestive health. The Permanent Secretariat continued to provide administrative support to the Association and acted as the resource and liaison centre between member societies/other A-P regional bodies and APAGE.
IV.	INTERNATIONAL/REGIONAL CONFERENCE
	APAGE was well represented in international/regional meetings conducted during Year 2002 as follows: WCOG February 24 – March 1 in Bangkok, Thailand DDW in May 19-22 in San Francisco, USA UEGW October 19-23 in Geneva, Switzerland.
VI.	Postgraduate Course during WCOG2002 (APDW2002)
	A One-day Postgraduate Course, known also as APDW2002, was organized on February 24, 2002 during WCOG2002 in Bangkok, Thailand. The theme of the Course was ‘Viral Hepatitis and Gastric Cancer in the Molecular Age’. A speaker from the States and a number of speakers from within the Asian Pacific region were invited to present specialized topics on Viral Hepatitis for the morning session and Gastric Cancer in the afternoon. Professor S K Lam, APAGE President and Professor Termchai Chainuvati, APDW2002 President gave the Opening Address. Professor Lam reiterated the Course served both to maintain the APDW continuum and pave the way for greater future successes. He called upon participants to take an active part both in WCOG and the APAGE postgraduate day. Professor Chainuvati welcomed all present to Bangkok adding, the Second APDW was organized as a postgraduate course to avoid repetition of topics with the main congress but more importantly, to enable concentration on diseases prevalent to this region such as the liver and gastric cancer. The Course was a successful one-day event with an excellent scientific programme. The presentation sessions were very stimulating. Participation and response were generally good and encouraging.
VI.	APAGE MEETINGS
A.	Council Meeting
	Chaired by Professor S K Lam, a Council Meeting was held on February 24, 2002 at 4:15 p.m. at Chalalai-Chalothorn Room, Novotel Bangna Bangkok. The meeting agreed to present to the general meeting the following: list of Council Members for 2002-2004 proposed by the Nominations Committee, appointment of an official auditor for APAGE -Michael Tsoi & Company in Hong Kong and admission of a new member-Myanmar GI and Liver Society. A number of other issues were discussed including insurance and expense coverage for Council Members attending regional meetings, APDW progress and development, relationship with BMI and other APAGE matters.
B.	APDW Steering Committee Meeting
	The APDW Steering Committee Meeting was held on February 26, 2002 at 9:00 a.m. at the Business Lounge of the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre in Bangkok. The meeting started with a presentation on the proposed APDW2004 by Professor Shu Dong Xiao, President of The Chinese Society of Gastroenterology and his colleague from the Chinese Medical Association. Upon deliberation, Members agreed to award APDW2004 to China to be held between February and early April, 2004 in Beijing. The meeting made an evaluation of APDW2001 and 2002 and discussed the APDW2003 proposed scientific programme, its fee structure and sponsorship. It was agreed with effect from APDW2003, APDWs would be held by the Host Society on behalf of the 4 regional bodies: Asian Pacific Association of Gastroenterology (APAGE), Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL), Asian Pacific Society of Digestive Endoscopy (APSDE) and International Society for Digestive Surgery (ISDS). With the new development, some remaining issues pertaining to a revamp of the APDW Steering Committee were finalized and endorsed. These included nominations of Committee members, terms of office of the Chairman, Secretary-General and members, financial arrangements such as profit and loss etc.
C.	Annual General Meeting The Annual General Meeting was held on February 25, 2002 at 5:05 p.m. in Room 220 at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC), Bangkok, Thailand. 21 representatives from 15 Member Societies attended. Members endorsed the Annual Report for 2001, the Financial Statement for the period from 15th June 2001 (date of incorporation) to 31st December 2001, composition of the new Governing Council 2002-2004 under the presidency of Professor Shiu Kum Lam, admission of a new member: Myanmar GI and Liver Society as well as the appointment of Michael Tsoi & Company in Hong Kong to be the Association’s official auditor.
D.	Meeting with the Biomedical Industry (BMI)
	A briefing on APDW2003 co-chaired by Professors Shiu Kum Lam and Kwong Ming Fock, APAGE President and Vice President respectively (latter, also Chairman of the APDW 2003 Local Organizing Committee) was held on February 25 at 14:15 hours in Cattleya Room of Novotel Bangna Bangkok. Dr. Chi Kong Yap, APDW2003 President and representatives from some 12 pharmaceutical and equipment companies attended. The purpose of the meeting was to present to interested companies the sponsorship packages and obtain their feedback and suggestions. A few questions on the arrangements of the scientific programme were raised and clarified. BMI companies were requested to take note that no companies were to organize any activities during the official scientific meeting.
VII.	MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS
A.	APAGE Web Page The APAGE website www.apage.org launched in March 2001 continued to serve as a quick and readily accessible channel of communication and information exchange among the member societies and regional bodies in the Asian Pacific region with even closer collaboration and unity. In its role of promoting and developing digestive health, this web had reached out to world gastroenterological associations, concerned groups and individuals. The number of persons visiting and utilizing this web had been increasing. Relevant materials, feedback and suggestions were constantly received through the web email apage@apage.org (formerly headquarters@apage.org). Technology information in gastroenterology was seen fast and effectively developing in Asia Pacific and beyond.
B.	Asia Pacific Digestive News Two issues, No. 9 and 10, of this News were published in February and September, 2002 respectively. In addition to a number of scientific updates by renowned specialists, a new feature in Issue 9 was the introduction of a website www.apdnews.net which created an electronic version of the newsletter. This website enabled story updates more often with the space which would not be allowed to feature in print and reached more colleagues than would otherwise be possible. Active links to article features and upcoming conferences were set up. The web also provided links to the homepages of member societies throughout the region. Member countries were welcome to utilize the web to promote their activities. Issue 10 included a feature article on APDW: its recent progress and future development. With DDW and UEGW going from strength to strength, APDN hoped to build on the strong and healthy first APDW in Sydney to continue to provide a forum for this region as well as an opportunity to share its expertise and knowledge with colleagues internationally. Planning for the third APDW was well underway in Singapore. A call was made for the generous support of colleagues in the biopharmaceutical industry to join APDW’s commitment in its endeavour to bring a strong scientific focus to original research from Asia Pacific and its aim of showcasing the region’s excellence.
C.	APDW2004 This would be held in March/April 2004 at the Beijing International Convention Center (BICC) in Beijing, China.
VIII.	ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Council expressed its gratitude to The Hong Kong Society of Gastroenterology for generously extending the free use of its office for another term expiring in March/April 2004 and to the Biomedical Industry for continuously and unstintingly supporting APAGE activities in 2002.