CAIRO: The 20th World Congress of the International Association of Surgeons, Gastroenterologists and Oncologists (IASGO) opened in Cairo on Thursday, bringing together more than 2,000 doctors from more than 50 different countries, including China, Pakistan, Turkey, and Italy. The event marks the first time the annual IASGO has ever been held in Egypt, as well as the first time it's ever been held in the African continent altogether. “We have been working on bringing IASGO to Egypt for nearly 10 years now, so we are glad we've accomplished that,” said Secretary General of the Congress Dr. Mohamed Abdel Wahab. “[IASGO] is a great opportunity for young physicians, surgeons and those in the field of gastroenterology and oncology here in Egypt and other participating countries to come and learn from world-class experts,” he said. One of those world-class experts is Sung Gyu Lee from the Asan Medical Center in Korea, which last year completed more liver transplants than any other medical center in the world. “Personally I think the quality and content [shared] at the IASGO is of great importance and highly informative,” said Lee. As Lee and Abdel Wahab share experiences and knowledge at the IASGO every year, they also developed a quasi-exchange program together in which Egyptian doctors are sent to Korea to learn more about liver transplant surgery and its latest developments. Participants in the congress were eager to meet their colleagues from various regions of the world, sharing their personal experiences and general knowledge. “Through this kind of meeting, surgeons and medical colleagues can exchange information on updated technologies, [methods], and ideas so that the patient and medical field can benefit from the progress,” said Dr. Chun-Yi Hao, professor and director of the Department of Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery at Peking University. The Cairo event is scheduled to feature more than 400 speakers from more than 30 countries and will run approximately 75 scientific sessions over the course of three days. These will discuss a variety of subjects, including the latest methods of treatment of hepatic viruses, diseases of the digestive system, liver and pancreas, and the latest methods of treatment for cancer of the liver, pancreas, colon, and prostate. Among the more specific focuses of the event will be explorations of cancer treatments, new perspectives on obesity surgery, new surgical procedures in addressing pancreatic tumors and liver removal. The three-day event is scheduled to end on Saturday. “Our international congress in Cairo is going to once again fulfill our highest expectations for achieving a globalization of medical knowledge and expertise — something that stands as an ideal, but also as a reality, for all of us who have witnessed the impressive developments and evolution of our association during the past 21 years of our history,” IASGO President Masatoshi Makuuchi and IASGO Secretary General N.J. Lygudakis stated.
