• 2013 IUGA Committee and International Advisory Board Elections
• Message from the IUGA Board regarding selection of annual meeting locations
• Abstract and roundtable submissions
• Register for the Bogota Regional Symposium
• Now taking pre-orders for the IUGA Pelvic Floor Dysfunction Anatomical and Surgical patient education chart
• Order of the British Empire awarded to Professor Linda Cardozo

The IUGA Board would like to encourage all members to participate in the current committee and International Advisory Board elections. Voting will close on January 10th at 11:59 p.m. EST.

Individual emails have been sent to members over the past month.  The subject line for the email has included ‘2013 IUGA Committee Elections’ and if you live in a region where there is an election for the International Advisory Board member this will be referred to as well.  The email contains a code that members must enter in order to access the voting system.   If you have difficulty finding that email or accessing the voting system, please contact Nailah Metwally at Nailah@iuga.org and she will help you to access the voting material.

The IUGA Board has decided that it is necessary to modify the process for selection of annual meeting locations and would like to share its thoughts with you and other members.

The annual meetings are the single most important contributors to the financial viability of IUGA and, therefore, the process to decide where to hold them is of great importance.

The board is committed to growing urogynecology in different parts of the world, and taking the annual meeting to different countries is a significant contributor to achieving that.  However, the board also has the fiduciary responsibility to ensure the financial well-being of IUGA.  As a result, it must find a balance between these two imperatives.  As you are likely aware, the search for such a balance is a common focus these days for many medical and health associations.

The board has decided that the best way to achieve this balance is to have a regular rotation of the annual meeting among areas of the world.  They have decided on a three-year rotation that will see the annual meeting in North America one year, in Europe the next year and somewhere in the rest of the world in the third year.  The rotation would then be repeated.

The board believes that this rotation will provide a good balance between ensuring the financial viability of IUGA and the desire to bring a focus on urogynecology to parts of the world where it is not as well understood or appreciated.

This rotation has, in fact, already begun as the 2014 annual meeting will be in North America, in Washington, DC, the 2015 meeting will be in Nice, France, and the 2016 meeting will be in Cape Town, South Africa.  Following this cycle, the 2017 meeting would be appropriate to hold in North America, the 2018 in Europe and the 2019 meeting in some other part of the world.

The board has received one proposal from North America to host the meeting in 2017 and that was from Vancouver.  There were two proposals received from Europe – from Prague and Vienna – and they have both indicated to the board that they would be pleased to be considered as the location for the meeting in 2018.  Assuming the adoption of this plan to rotate the location of the annual meeting, Vancouver would be the annual meeting location in 2017.

The board is interested in the thoughts of members regarding this plan to rotate the location of the annual meeting.  If you would like to share your thoughts regarding this, please send them to Chuck Shields, the IUGA Executive Director, at chuck@iuga.org and he will pass them along to the board.  The board would ask to receive your feedback by January 20 and thanks you in advance for any comments you might share.

The IUGA Board

Abstract and roundtable* submissions for the 2014 AUGS/IUGA Joint Scientific Meeting are open. The deadlines for submission are listed below along with links to submit and get more information.

Roundtables—February 1, 2014 Click here for more information about roundtable submissions.
Abstracts – February 3, 2014  Click here for more information about abstract submissions. 

*The roundtables are the same format as IUGA Meet the Expert sessions at previous annual meetings.

Visit www.augs-iuga2014.org for more information about the 2014 meeting.

IUGA is pleased to announce an IUGA Regional Symposium in Bogota, Colombia, to be held on February 7 & 8, 2014 at the Cosmos 100 Hotel.  It has been organized in association with the Asociacion Colombiana de Ginecologia Urologica.  All practitioners with an interest in managing women with incontinence, prolapse, and other pelvic floor disorders are encouraged to attend.  This includes gynecologists, urologists, colorectal surgeons and continence advisors.  Residents, Fellows, and Trainees are also welcome at a discounted rate.  

For program and registration information, click here!

Please send any questions to Regional@iuga.org.

At the IUGA Annual Meeting in Dublin, IUGA announced and showcased a new and informative Pelvic Floor Dysfunction Anatomical & Surgical Chart as a tool for physicians to use to help educate their patients about the various types of PFD and their treatments. It’s an 8.5 x 14” full color chart and stand and contains images created by a medical illustrator. The chart is in the final stages of production and IUGA is pleased to announce it is taking pre-orders on its online store web site as of today. All items ordered during the pre-order time frame will be shipped when the flip charts arrive in late January. To view some of the flip chart’s content, please click here.

IUGA would like to thank Boston Scientific for its generous unrestricted grant in support of printing this visual aid.

Congratulations to Professor Linda Cardozo, IUGA President from 1998 to 2000, who has been awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE), one of the United Kingdom’s highest awards for civilians. The Order of the British Empire recognises distinguished service to the arts and sciences, public services outside the UK Civil Service and work with charitable and welfare organisations of all kinds. Prof. Cardozo is the first urogynecologist to receive this honor. For more information about this prestigious award, please click here.