Dear members of the EHS
We can look back at a great Annual meeting in Prague. More than 1000 delegates interacting scientifically and socially was fantastic. Thank you to all participants, faculty, industry, and especially organizers! At the General Assembly, we welcomed Alexis Theodorou, Frederik Berrevoet, Umberto Bracale, and Sonia Ribas as new secretaries and offered an extensive overview of past and future activities.
The EHS is alive and now has 3000 members and counting! Changes to the EHS bylaws planned for ratification in Paris (June 4-6, 2025) will be discussed and presented in an online meeting in the autumn. We aim to include more active participation from members in the future in running the EHS. Please join us in our wings and many committees. Future open positions will be announced on the website and in our frequent newsletters. Due to the increasing workload, the next open Board positions will be for President-Elect (open for (ex) Board members), Treasurer, and possibly new secretaries. The secretaries for Website and Social media will merge in Paris. During the summer, work on guidelines (Botox and Incisional Emergency) will continue. Furthermore, we can look forward to a busy autumn with 5 cadaver lab courses and several national hernia meetings all over Europe, including a monothematic conference in Sofia (29-10-2024) – a joint initiative between the EHS and the Bulgarian Hernia Society. An ongoing activity is the re-organization of our national chapter collaboration. Societies will have status as either “affiliated” or “associated”. Moreover, this re-organization brings both new national and international societies with interest in hernia surgery. Becoming “associated” has advantages but with minimal requirements. Details can be found on the website. Please apply as a chapter, or society, and don’t hesitate to ask for help. We aim for a stronger committee of Society Representatives (formerly called National Chapter delegates). The EHS aims to promote an increasing awareness of the importance of Abdominal Wall Surgery through a more intense collaboration with our associated and affiliated societies with an increasing diversity of countries, surgeons, and members. Especially young surgeons are more than welcome to join our Hernia family. In Paris, we will launch a wing for young surgeons.
Please enjoy a wonderful summer holiday and hope to meet you at one of the many activities in the coming months.
Maarten Simons
EHS President
