World Organisation of Digestive Endoscopy

Annual OMED Report

September 2007

PRESIDENT’S INTRODUCTION: ANTHONY AXON

It is a pleasure to circulate this report to the members of OMED.

The challenges that have arisen in OMED over the last twelve months have stimulated us in OMED to develop our identity, to focus on the exciting advances that are taking place in international digestive endoscopy and to expand our activities in promoting high quality endoscopy throughout the world. We are grateful to our friends in industry for their support that has enabled us to move forward with so many of the projects on which we had set our heart when we started this quadrennial session.

We hosted the first of a series of Endoscopy Directors’ Training Workshops at the UEGW, Berlin, 2006. It was a great success and we followed it with a second workshop in conjunction with the Egyptian Society for the Study of Endoscopy and Gastro-hepatology in March 2007. Further meetings are planned this year in Brazil and at the APDW in Japan. These workshops target those who are in charge of local endoscopy units. We believe they will make a significant impact in improving standards of international endoscopy.

The Colorectal Cancer Screening Committee organised another, well received, meeting at DDW. The Ethics Symposium we held in conjunction with the ESGE last year and directed by Spiros Ladas has led to the publication of a major paper in Endoscopy [1] and a series of seventeen papers that will shortly be published in Digestion.

Another innovation is the publication of a web review of endoscopic papers presented at DDW and UEGW. We intend to continue this initiative and include APDW this year. The first of a series of “How I Do It” is now ready for publication on our website, and topics include glue treatment for gastric varices, removal of large or sessile polyps, endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) in the esophagus and expandable esophageal stents. Four more challenging endoscopic topics have been chosen for the coming year.

We have consolidated and strengthened the structure of our organization and are moving forward with a wider range of projects this year. In the past OMED kept many of its activities “in house” but in the future we intend to adopt an out going policy working closely with the three regional societies; European, Pan-American, and Asian Pacific. We will increase our joint activities with local societies, having already this year worked with the ASGE, the Egyptian Society and the Brazilian Society. It is, however individual endoscopists whom we would like to recruit. We have received tremendous support from colleagues in the “How I do it” project, the Colorectal Cancer Screening Symposium, the Endoscopy Directors’ Training Workshops, Ethics Symposium and the Meeting Reports. A list of those we would like to acknowledge is given below.

We are delighted by the enthusiastic participation of our friends and colleagues. OMED’s strength is that we have the whole world of endoscopy to call upon for support and it is to the world that we will direct our energy, intellect and expertise.

REPORT FROM THE SECRETARY GENERAL: JEAN-FRANCOIS REY

During this year, we have taken on new and exciting commitments to rebuild and advance OMED.

  • The technical secretariat is now under the responsibility of Ms Hilary Hamilton-Gibbs, with an efficient organisation based in Munich:
  • The World Organisation of Digestive Endoscopy (OMED)
    HG Editorial & Management Services
    Mauerkircher Str. 29
    81679 Munich
    Germany
    Tel. +49-89-2020 6458
    Fax +49-89-2020 6459
    All matters concerning OMED should be directed to our executive secretariat in order to assure an efficient and prompt response.
  • The OMED website has been reorganised. It is now practical and will be increasingly implemented to include all board or committee activities. It is a key point for our organisation.
  • Relationship with the industry has been reorganised with two joint meetings a year, in spring during American Digestive Diseases Week (DDW), and in autumn during the United European Gastroenterology Week (UEGW).
  • Newsletter with J. Waye as Editor-in-Chief will bring regular and updated activities to endoscopists everywhere.
  • OMED Equipment Compendium: This exciting and practical project allows endoscopists around the world to find details on endoscopes and devices. This service is especially important for emerging countries www.omed-catalogue.com

In summary, with these new developments, we will bring endoscopic news closer to endoscopists around the world.

FINANCIAL REPORT: ROBERT BAILEY

Last year we made a concerted effort to reduce our expenditure. This was successful and has enabled us to enter this year with greater confidence. We remain in balance but we still need to approach our activities with prudence. A copy of the balance sheet is available to members and sponsors by request to the administrative secretariat.

EDUCATION COMMITTEE: JAMES DISARIO

The education committee has planned a challenging agenda for the coming year. We are setting up a working group to make recommendations for a core curriculum for endoscopy training that will be suitable for use on a world-wide basis. We believe that there is a need to develop international standards for endoscopy training. These will be especially helpful in those countries where at present no national guidelines are available. We will ensure a wide range of representation on the working group and make full use of existing national guidelines.

At present African and Middle East representation in OMED is limited and this adversely affects the educational input that we are able to provide in these important parts of the world. More particularly, it is difficult to know what facilities and trained personnel are available in Africa. We will therefore set up two sub-committees specifically to represent these areas with access to the OMED council.

There is a need for an internet resource containing information that provides access to endoscopic training materials, workshops, facilities and other educational aids in endoscopy. We will develop this for our web site during the coming year.

A number of other projects under consideration may be activated later in the year.

RESEARCH COMMITTEE: NAOHISA YAHAGI

The newly constituted Research committee has been active over the past year. The meetings reports of DDW and UEGW have already been alluded to in the president’s introduction. We are grateful to Dr. Jonathan Cohen, Dr. Julius Spicak and their colleagues for the work they have done. We are planning to continue this project also this year, including APDW meeting.

We have initiated a number of new projects from this year. NOTES is a new technique with great potential. Research activity on this technique is widely dispersed in a variety of centers and little has yet been published. The committee will organize a working group to report a research update on this subject.

We will also focus on several new technologies other than NOTES. A research report has already started on endoscopic submucosal dissection and others are planned on balloon enteroscopy, capsule endoscopy, microscopic endoscopy and the value of NBI and auto fluorescence. Our committee will be setting up working group to revaluate a number of already established techniques.

We hope to establish an OMED research award in order to encourage young researchers in endoscopy.

CLINICAL STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES: DAVID BJORKMAN

This year has seen the development of the Endoscopy Directors’ workshops referred to in the president’s introduction; these and the “How I Do It” series will continue this year. The first publications in the series have been completed and “How I Do It” recently launched on the OMED website. This series includes reviews of endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) in the esophagus, glue treatment of gastric varices, removing large or sessile colonic polyps, and expandable esophageal stents. Additional topics are in preparation. The OMED/WGO guidelines on endoscope disinfection has now been published, approved by the guideline clearing house, and has been widely praised.

We submitted a proposal for a working group on quality standards and endoscopist credentialing to be presented at “Gastro 2009”. This we are delighted to report has been accepted by the programme committee. The Group will be chaired by Peter Cotton and Doug Faigel and will we hope provide guidelines that will help to improve the standards of endoscopy world wide.

We have set up a new working party under the chairmanship of Roger Leicester to write a guideline on the design of endoscopy units. This is a subject close to all of us. With the rapid changes that are taking place in endoscopic practice a “new look” is timely.

A project on sedation in endoscopy is in the early planning stages.

TERMINOLOGY AND STANDARDISATION: LARS AABAKKEN

The Minimal standards terminology system is being fully reviewed. The overall structure will remain unchanged but be modified to make it more user friendly for software use. Small bowel appearance, tumour classification and Ultrasound terminology will be added. We hope that this work will be completed this year. When the terminology has been accepted, work on the image atlas will progress rapidly.

Once these projects have been finished work will start on recommended standards for the text of the endoscopy report and image documentation.

UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL SCREENING: JOSEPH SUNG

This new committee has made an excellent start by liaising with the Asian Pacific society of digestive endoscopy with a working group designed to write guidelines for gastric cancer screening. This work is progressing well. Two papers are close to completion, one a literature review of the epidemiology of gastric cancer, the other on the detection and treatment of early gastric cancer another in progress is on “screen and treat” or “screen and scope”.

The committee intends to develop teaching workshops on new imaging techniques for early gastric cancer and a special workshop on endoscopic mucosal dissection.

COLORECTAL CANCER SCREENING: GRAEME YOUNG

We had another highly successful meeting at DDW in Washington this year, this annual meeting sustains dialogue and collaboration it facilitates links with industry, and enables us to plan for the future and gauge professional directions. We will in addition be arranging rotational Regional meetings in the future.

We intend to develop a number of consensus position papers covering a wide range of related subjects in screening and surveillance, details of these are under review.

We are delighted to report that our application to the programme committee of Gastro 2009 for a working party on guidelines for the evaluation of new screening tests for colorectal cancer was accepted. This will provide a great opportunity to tackle an important and difficult area in cancer screening and we look forward to presenting it in 2009.

MINIMALLY INVASIVE SURGERY: ALBERTO MONTORI

The most exciting new development in endoscopic surgery is the introduction of Natural Orifice Trans-luminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES). Although most of the advances to date have been in the experimental animal the technique does appear to be safe and effective in humans. It is becoming clear that this surgical approach will become the preferred option for a substantial amount of abdominal surgery in the future. OMED, in conjunction with our surgical colleagues hope to establish an international meeting in this area in the near future.

ARCHIVES AND HISTORY: HIROHUMI NIWA PAST PRESIDENT

A major history of OMED and the history of endoscopes is shortly to be published in Digestive Endoscopy, The official journal of the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society.

A LOOK TO THE FUTURE: JEROME WAYE PRESIDENT-ELECT

OMED has developed impetus during the current reign of Tony Axon (President), Jean-Francois Rey (Secretary Genera), and Bob Bailey (Treasurer). The past two years have been busy indeed, packed with new beginnings, new programs, and freedom to expand and broaden our scope of activities to become the organization truly worthy of carrying the banner for world endoscopy. For the next two years and into the future we will see closer cooperation with the zones, which will continue to be strong under the OMED umbrella. The new OMED online Newsletter will carry news about events in endoscopy throughout the world, and will have live videos of interesting procedures.

OMED was formally incorporated in 1962, and to initiate those proceedings, the planning group first gathered in 1961 to lay the plans for an international society for world endoscopy that would be separate from the world organization of gastroenterology. OMED is planning a 50th year celebration in 2011 of the beginning of OMED and the endoscopy era. Endoscopy is the motor that drives gastroenterology, and a specialty that cuts across multiple medical disciplines including medicine, surgery, radiology, pathology, medicine, pediatrics, and geriatrics. The last few years have witnessed the coming together of endoscopists in every specialty, especially in medicine and surgery. We plan to celebrate the strides in both medical and surgical endoscopy and have an international meeting to include endoscopists of all specialties to show each other and the world the current stage of endoscopy and to plan for the future. This meeting will showcase the vast cooperation among medical and surgical endoscopists and we will invite all endoscopists, instrument manufacturers, nurses and technicians, and leaders of the future to participate in this exciting world meeting, to be held on September 8-15, 2011. As developments progress, everyone will be informed about what is happening so that plans can be made to attend this international celebration of endoscopy.

OMED Supporters 2007 

We wish to thank all of our international endoscopy colleagues who have contributed to our activities over the past year.  We are grateful to them for the time, energy and interest that they have devoted to Working Parties, Symposia, Guidelines, Research Reports and other projects that OMED has been involved with and we are proud to publish a list of all those who have helped in this way.

» View list of OMED supporters here (PDF file, size 258kB )

» OMED Annual Report 2007 as a PDF file (PDF file, size 452kB )

» OMED Annual Report 2006 as a PDF file (PDF file, size 967kB )