In 2015 the IUSTI Europe branch undertook a number of successful activities.
IUSTI-Europe Conferences
Budapest, Hungary September 2016: The 30th annual conference was held in Budapest, Hungary in September 2016 in conjunction with the Hungarian STI society. The focus of the conference “Traditions, advances in STI care: harmony of personal and social prevention”. The Hungarian society held their annual meeting in advance and the ECDC arranged a symposium.
Prizes for free communications were awarded to Nicolas Pinto-Sander, Brigitta Mezö, Genevieve Van Liere and the poster prizes to Vives Nuria and Bernice Hoenderboom.
Sitges, Spain 2015:
The 29th annual conference was held in September, 2015 in Sitges, Spain, in collaboration with the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH). The conference focussed on the sexual health of men. Separate symposia were organised by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on the promotion of sexual health among MSM and by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the opportunities offered by new technologies for the prevention of STI. There were two pre-conference activities: a symposium with local and European public health and NGO experts on preventive strategies against STIs in MSM, and a full day STI foundation course from BASHH taken by 40 infectious disease clinicians and dermatologists from the Catalan region.
Upcoming conferences:
- Helsinki, Finland, 31st August – 2nd September 2017
- IUSTI World and Europe conference in Dublin, Ireland – 27th -30th June 2018
- Tallinn, Estonia 2019
- Bochum, Germany 2020
IUSTI-Europe Summer Schools
Bertinoro 2016:
“basic” STI summer school held in Bertinoro in June 2016 has again been very successful. There were 75 students (40 Italian).
Vienna 2015:
The European Branch of IUSTI established a new training course – the European Master Class in Sexually Transmitted Infections. The first course took place as a joint meeting together with the Austrian Society of STIs and Dermatological Microbiology (ÖGSTD) in Vienna in June 2015, chaired by Angelika Stary and Marco Cusini. This was generally very successful. IUSTI-Europe provided five scholarships for young European scientists to attend and some National societies also provided funding.
STI Guidelines
Currently 23 guidelines on website or in development. Two new guidelines are at an advanced stage of development: on vulvar diseases and Mycoplasma genitalium. Dr Marti Vall Mayans represented the Editorial Board at an STI/ HIV surveillance meeting organised by the ECDC in Bratislava, Slovakia, on 8-9 March 2016.
Cooperation with other international organizations
ECDC: The relationship between IUSTI and the ECDC has become more formalised over the last 12 months. Liaison officers have been appointed by both parties to enable closer cooperation and a memorandum of understanding has been drawn up. IUSTI-Europe has contributed to three lines of ECDC work:
- HIV testing guidelines
- PREP guidelines
- Surveillance of GC resistance
EDF there are strengthening ties with the European Dermatology Forum (EDF), with IUSTI-Europe activities on the official agenda of the 2016.Annual Dermatology Forum Meeting
UEMS: There has been a great deal of cooperation between the Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes (UEMS) and IUSTI. The STI subcommission of UEMS is continuously involved in creating new MCQs for the STI/Venereology European Board Examination, which is held every year at the beginning of August in Frankfurt . The subcommission has also participated actively in the establishment of the new detailed Curriculum and Training Requirements for Dermatology and Venereology. A further development within the UEMS that augurs well for the collaboration between UEMS and IUSTI-Europe is the establishment of a joint committee – Sexual Medicine – which embraces urology, gynecology and psychiatry.