38th Annual EASL Conference Is Cancelled Due to Impending Gulf War
38th Annual EASL Conference Is Cancelled Due to Impending Gulf War
Originally scheduled for March 29 - April 1, 2003 in Istanbul, Turkey, the 38th
Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL),
has been cancelled by its organizers due to the impending threat of war in the
region.
EASL is one of the preeminent annual scientific conferences on viral hepatitis
and other liver-related medical disorders.
No new date for the EASL meeting is set as yet. Release of information on the
results of several important studies on hepatitis B, hepatitis C and hepatitis
co-infection with HIV will be indefinitely delayed will be delayed indefinitely
as a results of the conference postponement.
In addition, the scheduled release of new recommendations by the EASL consensus
panel on Management of Hepatitis B will be delayed.
Following is the text of the announcement from the meeting's secretariat:
"It is with great regret that we have to announce that the EASL Annual Meeting
that was scheduled for 29 March - 1 April 2003 in Istanbul, Turkey, has been
cancelled. The uncertainty of the present political situation has been felt too
unstable by all parties involved in the meeting and this would have prompted a
poorly attended event with a major proportion of speakers not being there to
present the results of their research. We have waited until the very last days
to take this undesired and less than optimal decision in the hope that the
political situation would have clearly improved making the risk of war unlikely.
"We have to be supportive of our friends in Turkey whose tremendous efforts
during the last years had set up an outstanding event, that at this stage, we
will not be fortunate enough to enjoy. At the same time, we are evaluating the
best alternatives to be taken into account to still have a 2003 EASL Annual
Meeting.
"We wish, on this occasion, to stress that any registration fees paid to attend
the Annual Meeting in Istanbul 29 March - 1 April 2003, will be credited towards
the new dates of the meeting.
"Information about all aspects will be released through the usual electronic and
conventional mailing systems, but at this time it has to be stressed that all
new developments and final decisions will be posted on our web page.
Accordingly, please visit it regularly to access the most updated information as
soon as it is available."
We thank you for your understanding,
Jordi Bruix
Scientific Secretary
http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/hep_c/news/031903a.html
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.455 / Virus Database: 255 - Release Date: 02/14/2003