Message from the Development Committee Chair
I am Toshihide Naganuma, Department of Urology, Osaka Metropolitan University, and I am pleased to be asked to chair the APSDA Development Committee. Since 2014, I have been participating in the NGO Ubiquitous Blood Purification International to provide medical support in the field of vascular access in Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Specifically, I have visited Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, and Vietnam to perform surgeries and VAIVT, hold hands-on seminars, and give lectures. We have also assisted in setting up societies of nephrology in Cambodia and Laos.
Since 2016, we have been accepting Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Nepalese, and Indonesian young doctors for training in Osaka as part of the activities of the Japanese Society for Dialysis Therapy. I would like to use these experiences to contribute to the educational program in the area of access at APSDA, and I look forward to working with you.
Development Committee Chair Toshihide Naganuma
New message from the president
Dear friends and colleagues,
The COVID-19 pandemic state is going on much longer than expected. I hope you are safe and well.
I am going to report you what recently happened inside the APSDA and share the information on the upcoming events of the APSDA.
APSDA congress
The opening of the 5th APSDA congress in Taiwan is approaching. I would like to thank the local organizing committee for the excellent scientific program. The program covers most basic and advanced materials of dialysis access care. Particularly, it is very meaningful for us to have an international symposium involving 6 organizations (APSDA, ISN, JSDA, VAS, VASA, and GEMAV). I believe that the cooperative activity of APSDA with other organizations will facilitate the growing of the APSDA quantitatively and qualitatively. To increase the number of participants, the organizing committee has extended the early bird registration deadline to October 31, 2021 and lowered the registration fee for overseas virtual conference attendees. I would like to ask you all to encourage your colleagues and fellows to register the congress.
Next APSDA Congress
Dr. Sampathkumar (Education Committee Chair) kindly confirmed to take up the 6th APSDA congress in India in 2022. Information on the date and venue will be announced in detail soon. We hope that international travel will resume by that time, and we can have an in-person congress in India.
Agreement between APSDA and JSDA, between APSDA and VAS
Agreement for Delegate Exchange between the APSDA and the Japanese Society for Dialysis Access (JSDA), and between the APSDA and the Vascular Access Society (VAS) was made. One or two delegates from one society will be invited to attend the annual/biannual meeting of the other society, and vice versa. This agreement will be mutually beneficial and serve to improve the field of vascular access, enhance patient care, and develop the societies. Both agreements started from September 1, 2021. Until now, APSDA made agreements with GEMAV, JSDA, and VAS. Agreement documents were attached and will be posted on our homepage.
Agreement between VAS
Agreement between GEMAV
Agreement between JSDA
Election of the President-elect
It is time to elect the APSDA President-elect. According to bylaws of the APSDA, Dr. David Voss (Nominating Committee Chair) will proceed with the voting process. Please attend the vote.
Council meeting
Virtual council meeting is scheduled at 12:15~13:15 (GMT+8 time zone, including Taiwan, China) on Dec. 12 (Sunday) during the congress. Organizer will send us the conference password and link a few days before the council meeting. Meeting agenda will be distributed soon, and the results of the election of the president-elect will be announced at the meeting. I am sorry that we cannot have an in-person council meeting, however, please save the date, and participate in the meeting.
ISN Interventional Nephrology Scholarship and APSDA
As you know, the ISN has selected 12 ISN Interventional Nephrology Training Centers for the first time and 4 centers (Japan, Republic of Korea, India, Malaysia) in Asian Pacific countries were selected. ISN Interventional Nephrology Scholarships were awarded to 13 nephrologists in this inaugural year. Out of 13 applicants, 5 applicants were from Asian countries and 7 applicants will be trained in centers in Asian countries.
Reviewing process and outcome of the application for the ISN Interventional Nephrology Scholarship suggested some important realities for us. Majority of the applicants were from Asian countries and African countries, and success rate for the scholarship seemed to be less than 25% (I do not know the exact rate). It indicates that many Asian nephrologists need interventional nephrology training and lack such training opportunities. I think APSDA should step up to solve this problem and this is something APSDA should actively do. I would like to submit this issue as an agenda to council meeting for discussion.
Future APSDA Congress
We need to decide on the place of APSDA Congress 2023 and 2024. If any council member wants to hold future APSDA Congress in his country, please let me know no later than November 26th, 2021.
Stay safe, and although virtually, I am looking forward to seeing you soon.
Best regards,
Yong-Soo Kim President of APSDA
Message from the president
Dear colleagues and friends,
I hope you are well.
It has been a while since we met in 4th APSDA Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia which was held on July 12-14, 2019.
I am deeply sorry that the activities of the APSDA as a newly established academic society have been reduced or canceled due to the restrictions caused by COVID-19 pandemics, and I feel a lot of responsibility for the inactivity as the President of APSDA.
However, in addition that we should make the best effort to overcome this pandemic crisis quickly, I think we should gradually expand the activities of APSDA as much as we can in this situation.
Today, I would like to share some news and plans of the society.
Agreement between GEMAV and APSDA
Recently, agreement between the Spanish Multidisciplinary Vascular Access Group (Grupo Español Multidisciplinar del Accesso Vascular, GEMAV) and the APSDA was performed with the purpose of obtaining a mutual benefit and contributing to the development of both societies. Both societies will collaborate and promote the congress of each society and support the educational project of each society.
Agreement between JSDA and APSDA, between VASA and APSDA
As you know, agreement between JSDA and APSDA and agreement between VASA and APSDA were confirmed last year. We were going to exchange the agreements APSDA Congress last year, but it was postponed because the congress was postponed. I hope we can exchange the agreement in the APSDA Congress in December 2021 in-person.
Inaugural Global Dialysis Access Forum (GDaF)
Inaugural GDaF was virtually held on October 8th, 2020 one day before the annual meeting of VASA. GDaF is not another society but a forum for international harmonization of access care. In the session 1, information on the current status and future of dialysis access care was shared by the speakers representing societies or countries, such as US (VASA), US (ASDIN), Europe (VAS), Asian Pacific region (APSDA), Japan, Latin America, UK and India. I was privileged to speak at the form on behalf of APSDA with a title of “APSDA: Organizational Challenges in Asian Pacific Nations.” I believe APSDA will benefit from the collaboration with long-established societies and will mature into a highly prestigious society through the collaboration.
ISN IN Training Centers
The ISN has selected 12 ISN Interventional Nephrology Training Centers to provide in-depth specialized training to improve patient care in different regions of the world. Although many centers applied to become ISN IN Training Centers, ISN decided to select one center in a region in this inaugural year because scholarship will be awarded to only 8 nephrologists this year. I am pleased to inform you that 4 centers in Asian Pacific regions were selected, whitch were Kaikoukai Central Clinic Vascular Access Treatment Center, Japan, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital Vascular Access Center, Republic of Korea, Hospital Selayang, Malaysia, and All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India. I am sure that these centers will contribute dialysis access care through the hands-on training in interventional nephrology.
Election of president-elect
Term of current president ends this year. Nominating committee will begin the process of electing the next president-elect so that we can announce the new president-elect at the 5th APSDA Congress in December 2021. I am looking forward to council members being candidates for president-elect of APSDA.
e-Academy
On-line education is the most effective teaching method especially in the COVID-19 pandemic situation. The advantage of online education compared with in-person education is that there are no restrictions on location, time, and number of attendees. Furthermore, video presentation looks more effective educational material compared with slide presentation including images to show interventional procedures. I appreciate the excellent videos Dr. Takashi Sato has posted on the homepage. I am finalizing to make 6 videos for online education and will post them on the homepage in a couple of months. I would like to ask council members to post educational materials on the homepage.
I am looking forward to seeing all of you soon.
Best regards,
Yong-Soo Kim President of APSDA