Second Annual Meeting of Thailand Chapter of the International Society of Tropical Pediatrics (TCISTP) August 17, 2010

         TCISTP aims to create a network of national and international specialists to further the sharing of knowledge and promote effective collaboration in tropical pediatrics. In this year, dengue infection is the main topic of meeting. The participant will gain update, comprehensive knowledge and experience about dengue infection.

Second Annual Meeting TCISTP on August 17, 2010 is ready for registration, Please click for more details.

 Report on the 6^th World Congress of the World Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases

         The 6th World Congress of the World Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (WSPID) was held at Sheraton Buenos Aires Hotel & Convention Center, Buenos Aires, Argentina from November 18-22, 2009 with 2,700 participants from over 90 countries.

The opening ceremony was held on the evening of 18th November, 2009 with the opening words by Professor Ron Dagan, President of the WSPID; Dr. Angela Gentile, Chairperson of the Local Scientific and Social Event Committees followed by children choir and a small string orchestra.

The scientific program started in the morning of the 18th November, 2009 and went on until the 22nd November, 2009. At the closing, two awards were given to one best free paper and one best poster out of 800 abstracts submitted.

The scientific program included vaccines, nosocomial infections, respiratory infections, immunocompromised patients, emerging infections, the regional societies symposia from Africa, Asia, Australiasia, Europe, North America and Latin America, antimicrobial resistance, infection control, consensus symposium on catheter related infections and quinolone use in children, the world lecture on elimination of rubella and the following 9 meet the professor sessions: update on immunization, pneumonia in developing countries, immunization of HIV-infected child, TB in children, hospital acquired outbreaks, treatment of bacterial respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, bacterial meningitis, children with sore throat.

Eight hundred abstracts were submitted, some were selected for oral presentation and some were selected to be orally presented in the poster walk session. The 6th World Congress of the WSPID was a very successful event in opening dialogue of pediatric infectious diseases worldwide, exchanging ideas, sharing new methods of prevention and treatment and breakthroughs, most of all it creates the worldwide partnerships that can cross borders not only to specialists, practitioners, researchers and scientists, but to the patients as well. The next World Congress of the WSPID will be held in Melbourne, Australia on 16-20 November 2011.

Professor Usa Thisyakorn, M.D.
President, 9^thICTP 2011
Executive committee, International Society of Tropical Pediatrics
President, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society of Thailand
Secretary General, Asian Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Board member, World Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases

 World Pneumonia Day, 2^nd November 2009

         Pneumonia is the number one killer of children, killing 2 million children every year-more HIV/AIDS, measles, and malaria combined. It was estimated that there will be 1 child dead every 12 seconds. After diarrhea, pneumonia kills more Thai children than any other diseases, accounting for 16% of the country’s under-five deaths. Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae type B are the two leading causes of child pneumonia. Preventing these deaths is an essential part of a successful maternal, newborn and child health strategy. However, childhood pneumonia has been in a low priority on the global health agenda. That is why we invite you to join the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia for World Pneumonia Day, November 2nd, 2009 by wearing blue. Moreover, you can join the World Pneumonia Day by visiting http://worldpneumoniaday.org

We did organize a round table discussion entitled" Roles for S. pneumoniae in Pandemic Flu & Virus associated Pneumonia" on June 30, 2008 at Four Seasons Hotel , Bangkok, Thailand. We have Prof. Shabir A Madhi from South Africa as a guest speaker and Prof. Usa Thisyakorn from Thailand as a moderator. There were many pediatricians and clinicians participated in this round table discussion including policy makers from Ministry of Public Health, professors and lecturers from several medical schools in Bangkok as well as the doctors from private sectors. All power point presentations have displayed on our website(with permission).

 Brief report on the First Asian Vaccine Conference (ASVAC) 2009

         The First Asian Vaccine Conference (ASVAC) 2009 with the theme “Improving Child Survival through Vaccination” organized by Asian Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases (ASPID), National Pediatric Hospital Cambodia (NPH), International Society of Tropical Pediatrics – Philippines (ISTP-Ph) and Philippine Foundation for Vaccination (PFV) was held at Royal Angkor Resort, Siem Reap, Kingdom of Cambodia from August 20-22, 2009 with Professor Lulu C Bravo as the over-all chair. Many distinguished international speakers were invited as well as the members of the Asian Strategic Alliance for Pneumococcal disease Prevention (ASAP), the EPI and National immunization Program managers of many Asian countries and the leaders of the 4 organizing societies, ASPID, NPH, ISTP-Ph and PFV.There were 350 participants from several countries mainly from Asia.

         The ASVAC 2009 highlights the role of immunization in the control and prevention of childhood illnesses that claim the lives of millions of children each year. Almost 4 million lives could be saved every year in the world if these vaccines could be universally available to the children especially of the developing countries of Asia and Africa. The conference focus the value of vaccination and how this can contribute to the achievement of the 4th millennium development goal.

         The Scientific Program comprised Key Note Message of “Improving child survival in resources-limited countries: Focus on vaccination”, Plenary, and Symposium sessions. Presentations covered The value of vaccination, The basic of immunology, Assessing new vaccines for inclusion in the national immunization programs, Advances in vaccination: 21st century solutions to age-old diseases, Vaccine for all ages, Getting new vaccines into the national immunization programs, New vaccines in the horizon: dengue, AIDS, Malaria and TB, Practical considerations in immunization, Vaccine as a social right, Communicating value of vaccines, Sharing best practices in immunization . Participants participated fully in the accompanying discussions.

         The signing of “Siem Reap Declaration 2009” by all country representatives and organizations were done as its output will call on all Asian governments, health care workers, NGOs, industry, professional and civil societies and all policy makers to recognize the value of immunization and support the introduction of new underutilized vaccines that have been found to be safe and efficacious for the control of childhood illnesses.

         The ASVAC 2009 was successful in sharing the strategies and activities to achieve universal vaccination by various groups and is feasible which could be adopted by the community at large.

Professor Usa Thisyakorn, M.D.
Secretary General, Asian Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases
President, the 9th international Congress of Tropical Pediatrics 2011