Word from the President

Word from the President

Katowice April 12, 2020

Dear Colleagues,

Another year of Polish Phlebology Society activity has passed. The year 2019 will be associated by many of us with an important international event, which was the organization in Poland of the International Union of Phlebology Conference in Krakow in the final days of August. On behalf of myself, the Organizers, and PTF, I thank you very much for your numerous participation in this undoubtedly important event for Polish Phlebology.

I thank everyone who contributed to organizing and participated in the organization of this conference, I also thank the Lecturers and all those who wished to submit and present their work. 1,310 people participated in the International Union of Phlebology Chapter Meeting in Krakow, and during 3 days spent in the Congress Center halls, we had the opportunity to meet and get to know phlebologists from over 70 countries. Once again, I thank you for your participation and help in organizing the UIP conference in Poland, in Krakow.

However, 2019 was not just the UIP conference. In recent years, more and more of you actively participate in courses and training, organizing educational activities affiliated with PTF - information about them was, is, and will be continuously posted on the Polish Phlebology Society website. Thank you very much for your commitment, ideas, and their implementation. All these activities contribute to the undoubtedly increasing level of phlebology as a medical discipline in our country.

To all of you working in this field and wishing to share your experience and knowledge, I express great respect and gratitude. Special thanks also to the PTF Lymphology Section and its President Prof. Andrzej Szuba, as well as to the Organizers and Lecturers of the Aesthetic Phlebology Conference. In 2019, we had the opportunity to meet at the two-day Aesthetic Phlebology and Lipedema conference. For the first time in Poland, the problem of lymphatic edema was presented and discussed in such a comprehensive way with significant participation of foreign guests.

Challenges of 2020

Dear Colleagues, 2020 brings new challenges appearing before most of us, as well as before the Society. The first and undoubtedly surprising challenge for all of us became the epidemic, whose magnitude and consequences we probably could not even imagine a few months ago. At the moment I am writing this letter, in most places in Poland, Phlebologists were forced to give up planned diagnostic and therapeutic activities, which generates numerous problems for many of us, similar to many other medical disciplines and specialties.

Wishing you primarily health, I hope for the fastest possible return to the phlebology we know and that many patients would wish for, who are waiting for highly specialized treatment in your facilities and offices. However, probably none of us is able to answer unambiguously today the question of when this will be possible.

Planned Events

The ongoing epidemic has and unfortunately may have an impact on a series of activities planned within PTF activities in 2020. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the lymphological conference in Wrocław organized by Prof. Andrzej Szuba and the PTF Lymphology Section was moved from April to the first week of September 2020.

On September 11-13, 2020, the "Phlebology in Kalatówki" conference is planned - we will inform you whether it will be possible to organize it at a later time. This will undoubtedly depend on the epidemiological situation in Poland. The next planned event is the Aesthetic Phlebology Conference on November 7, 2020, in Warsaw. More than a month after Aesthetic Phlebology, on December 11-12, 2020, we would like to invite you to another cyclical meeting - International Symposium on Venous Interventions in Krakow.

Phlebological Review and Training

Hoping for the fastest possible extinction of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland and worldwide, I would also like to remind you about our Society's journal - Phlebological Review. We cordially invite you to submit papers and share your observations, knowledge, and experience.

Another area where I would like to encourage you to broader cooperation is the organization in Poland of centers and training systems according to proposals from the committee affiliated with UEMS (European Union of Medical Specialists) for Phlebology (Multidisciplinary Joint Committee on Phlebology).

Congress 2021

Finally, one more invitation concerning an event planned for 2021. On June 10-12, 2021, at the International Congress Center in Katowice, we plan to organize the International Congress of the Polish Phlebology Society. The congress will be combined with the celebration of the 30th anniversary of PTF, which falls in the coming year.

Wishing all of you primarily health in this difficult period of the pandemic for all of us, I once again express sincere thanks to all those actively involved in PTF work. To all Members of the Polish Phlebology Society, I wish perseverance and success in implementing your plans and the possibility of their realization.