Asian Pacific Digestive Week 2006
Albert E. Ismael, M.D.
Secretary General, APDW 2006
Two years of nerve-wracking and heart-rending preparations for the Asian Pacific
Digestive Week (APDW) 2006 paid off handsomely with a very successful congress!
Over 1,600 delegates, including 101 invited faculties, attended the just concluded APDW
last November 26 to 30, 2006 in Waterfront Hotel and Convention Center in Cebu City.
The congress kicked off with the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver
(APASL) Postgraduate Course and the Asian Pacific Society of Digestive Endoscopy
(APSDE) Live Endoscopy Workshop. The APASL Postgraduate Course was highlighted
by the Kunio Okuda Lecture delivered by Prof. Malcolm Alison on "Stem Cell Therapy
in Liver Diseases". Meanwhile, the Live Endoscopy Workshop with the expert handling
of the chair, Dr. Evan G. Ong, was transmitted from Metropolitan Medical Center in
Manila and the Institute of Advanced Endoscopy in Mumbai, India with ease. The
delegates as well as the faculty were one in saying that the live endoscopy demonstrations
were excellent in terms of variety of cases, the expertise of the endoscopists, and the
quality of image transmission.
The scientific sessions, under the meticulous supervision of the scientific committee
chair, Dr. Celina S. Tady was a huge success with 6 plenary lectures, 12 state-of-the-art
lectures, 24 symposia, and 6 industry-sponsored symposia. The topics were timely,
relevant to clinical practice, and evenly distributed and integrated across all fields of
gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy, and surgery of the digestive tract. It was truly a
multidisciplinary program.
The social events which included a faculty dinner and welcome reception provided the
delegates with experiences worth remembering. The Faculty Dinner which was held at
Fort San Pedro proved to be an inspiring event to the speakers. In the meantime, the
Welcome Reception at the beachfront of the Shangri-la Mactan showcased Filipino
cultural dances and a grand display of fireworks. All the delegates and the speakers had a
wonderful night of singing and dancing.
The splendid, heart-warming, and uplifting experience of the APDW 2006 happened
because of the concerted effort of a team who genuinely cared to make the congress a
success. Dr. Jose D. Sollano, Jr., the APDW 2006 President and I give credit to the hard
work and unselfish contribution of the members of the local organizing committee.