COVID-19 - Letter from Martin Smith, IHPBA President

Dear IHPBA member

During this time of crisis and chaos, I want to just take a moment to share our global humanity and recognise those amongst us who have fought the battle on all of our behalf. Some of us have fought and won such as those in Wuhan, some of us are currently fighting, such as those in Italy, Spain and New York and some of us wait for the fight to reach our front doors. As both members of our own communities and members of the broader health professional community, we face different challenges every day. In my own country, Surgeons are still mainly on the side-lines of the battle and it is our patients that will be negatively affected by the cancellation of surgery. While I am grateful for much of the political responsiveness to this crisis, we should remain cognisant that where appropriate we should still be advocating for our HPB patients to receive appropriate care. In that context, we should differentiate between essential and emergency surgery.

I urge you to communicate with your friends and colleagues across the world in the IHPBA. Being a member of the IHPBA means, we share a common vision and objective. Let us stand together as we play our role in the pandemic and wait to emerge on the other side stronger and wiser and more connected to each other.

Stay safe and stay healthy.

Martin Smith

Join our COVID-19 Discussion here

READ MORE FROM THE REGIONAL ASSOCIATIONS HERE 

AHPBA - Refer to the pop up on AHPBA's homepage

view the SAGES – AHPBA Recommendations for Surgical Management of HPB Cancer Patients During the Response to the COVID-19 Crisis here 

A-PHPBA - Refer to statement of the A-PHPBA homepage.

E-AHPBA - Refer to E-AHPBA's COVID-19 webpage

All E-AHPBA members are encouraged to complete the survey on the practice of hepatopancreatobiliary surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic https://surveymonkey.co.uk/r/KB39BGP

Published on Monday 30th March 2020