1. Report from the president
The WES General Assembly takes place in connection with the World Congresses on Endometriosis (WCE), and the assembly, which is therefore not annual, provides an opportunity for WES members and the WES board to meet to set priorities for the next three years.
WES President, Hans Evers, proudly presented the following achievements since the last General Assembly on 13 March 2008:
- Highly successful WCE2008 in Melbourne with 1,080 registered delegates where the first Rodolphe Maheux Award was presented to Joas Dias and Sergio Podgaec, Brazil;
- The Rodolphe Maheux Award will also presented at WCE2011 for the best presentation by a clinician aged <40;
- Production of six annual eJournals over three years, with expert reviews of the literature;
- Continued collaboration with World Endometriosis Research Foundation (WERF):
— Global Study of Women’ Health published in Fertil Steril on the personal and societal impact of endometriosis (Nnoaham et al, 2011)
— Women’s Health Symptoms Study on the predictability of endometriosis submitted for publication (Nnoaham et al)
— EndoCost study on the cost of endometriosis submitted for publications (Simoens et al)
— Four more analyses of above data taking place…
— Next study under consideration
— WERF is currently working with 30 centres in 19 countries; - Produced a fact sheet on endometriosis with WERF;
- Endorsed regional meetings in Italy, Germany, and Norway …and was represented at dozens more;
- Instigated the WES Travel Grant with initial support from the 3rd Nordic Endometriosis Congress with four travel grants provided for WCE2011;
- Launched informational video on endometriosis during Endometriosis Awareness Week in March 2011;
- Launched a new website, and we are now active on Twitter as well (@WorldEndoSoc);
- Organised two international consensus workshops on research directions in endometriosis (chaired by Peter Rogers)on 15 March 2008 and 4 September 2011 as part of connecting researchers worldwide who specialise in moving the field of endometriosis forward;
- Organised an international consensus on the management of endometriosis, which will be held on Thursday 8 September 2011 (chaired by Neil Johnson).
2. Financial statements
WES treasurer, Ali Akoum, presented the financial results:
Result 31 December 2007: CAD$41,771.92
10th World Congress on Endometriosis: CAD$81,591.50
Membership 2008: CAD$28,703.40
Membership 2009: CAD$15,715.67
Membership 2010: CAD$ 4,922.91
Total income CAD$172,705.40
Operating expenditure 2008: CAD$33,436.89
Operating expenditure 2009: CAD$31,736.84
Operating expenditure 2010: CAD$27,391.10
Total expenditure CAD$92,564.83
RESULT 31 December 2010: CAD$80,140.57
WES member Neil Johnson proposed the approval of the accounts, which was seconded by WES member Luk Rombauts. The accounts for 2008-2010 were unanimously approved.
3. The appointment of auditors
WES member David Adamson motioned the appointment of auditors:
AIMS Accountants
Tudor Business Centre
Kingswood Station
Waterhouse Lane
Kingswood
Surrey
England
This was seconded by WES member Luk Rombauts. The motion was unanimously carried.
5. Hand over to the new WES President
Hans Evers handed over the position of WES President 2011-2014 to A/Professor Paolo Vercellini, University of Milano, who commenced his presentation by thanking Hans Evers for his excellent chairmanship during the past three-and-a-half years and congratulating him on the outstanding achievements of WES during this period.
6. Presentation of the 2011-2014 WES Board
Paolo Vercellini thanked Ali Akoum, David Healy, Liselotte Mettler, Robert Shaw, Robert Schenken, and Naoki Terakawa who are stepping down from the board because their terms of office are over.
He went on to introduce the new WES officers:
- Linda Giudice (USA) – president elect for 2014-2017
- Neil Johnson – vice president
- Robert Taylor (USA) – secretary
- Ludwig Kiesel (Germany) – treasurer
New WES representatives:
- Hilary Critchley (UK)
- Sun-Wei Guo (China)
- Alan Lam (Australia)
- Rishma Pai (India)
- Kathy Sharpe-Timms (USA)
It was proposed that Lone Hummelshoj be re-appointed as Secretary General, which is not a board position. WES member David Adamson motioned for approval of the new board, which was seconded by WES member Deborah Bush. It was unanimously agreed.
7. WES presidential initiatives
Paolo Vercellini went on to outline his priorities for the next 2.5 years:
- To launch the endometriosis awareness film in French, German, Italian, and Spanish, and to provide versions with sub-titles in English and Hebrew;
- To initiate projects focusing on an often overlooked problem in endometriosis: dyspareunia;
- To work with WCE2014 President, Mauricio Abrao, to make the 12th World Congress on Endometriosis even bigger and better than WCE2011, and to ensure members are involved in shaping the format of the congress.
Dr Vercellini concluded his presentation by announcing that the 13th World Congress on Endometriosis will take place in Vancouver, Canada, in 2017.
8. Any other business
There being no other business the meeting concluded at 18.03.