News from the European Pain Federation EFIC Chapters

Austria Association for Pain Management has new leadership

Governance

President: OÄ Dr. Waltraud Stromer
Vice President: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Eisner
Past President: Prim. Priv. Doz. Dr. Nenad Mitrovic
Secretary: Prim. Dr. Mag. Gregor Kienbacher
Treasurer: Dr. Thomas Weber
EFIC Councillor: Dr. Wolfgang Jaksch

We are pleased to inform you that the Executive Committee of the European Pain Federation EFIC has approved the application for the Belarusian Society for the Study of Pain (BSSP) to become a Chapter of EFIC. Read more here.

The Czech Republic held its Board Committee on 14 of May. Read more here.

Read the recent plan and objectives of the Finland Association for the study of Pain here.

The Board of the French Pain Society (SFETD, https://www.sfetd-douleur.org/le-conseil-dadministration-2020-2022/) meets once per month for a full day of discussions, proposals, questions from Society members, and –most important– preparation of the National Congress, which is held every year in November. After more than one year of virtual meetings, in vivo reunions resumed in May 2021, and hopefully, the next SFETD congress will also be face-to-face (with the possibility of simultaneous video connection) and not fully remote as the last one had to be. The Congress will be held in Montpellier on 17-19 November 2021. The vast majority of the presentations will of course be in French, so all francophone colleagues in Europe are cordially invited to participate!

The SFETD includes a number of thematic commissions (equivalent to ‘Special Interest Groups’) on cancer pain, paediatric pain, pain psychology, pain nursing, neuromodulation translational research, pain in animals, ambulatory care, and rehabilitation. To minimise the dispersion of forces, the Board decided in June to foster inter-commission work on specific topics that concern two or more interest groups (e.g. opioid therapy, which is relevant for groups on cancer pain, paediatric and psychology). We hope that such cooperative work will allow joining forces and optimise resources, including for lobbying political decision-makers at regional and national levels.

France has a very dense and extensive network of pain assessment and treatment centres (CETDs). However, a large number of carers work only part-time in these centres, and their retirement often jeopardises the continuity of the position they hold. The SFETD has therefore launched a demographic survey sent to all Pain Centres, the objectives of which are

• to obtain a demographic map of the supply of care in chronic pain structures, including an age pyramid
• establish the density of the supply by region and by department, so as to achieve a balanced territorial network adapted to the population, and
• update the ratios between the various professional categories of carers.

The survey should be completed before September 2021.

Best wishes to all European Pain Societies, from your French colleagues
The SFETD Board

This year the Congress of the Italian Association for the Study of Pain certainly represents a special moment of encounter: COVID has completely altered all our habits and made our paths difficult, but we have not given up. And so we have also broadened our interests in this terrible pandemic and the consequences that will ensue. In fact, the Italian Association for the Study of Pain, the Italian chapter of EFIC® and IASP®, has always been committed to researching and studying the most effective treatments in the fight against pain and, even at this time, it can only pursue its mission.

The program of our next National Congress 2021 is full of interesting ideas for those who are projected into the culture of pain, respecting, as always, research and welfare criteria, in the context of the multidisciplinary characteristic of our Society.

The congress will see, in fact, the presence of numerous personalities, who have always been points of reference in their fields of expertise, who will be able to capture our attention on the news that the world offers us, without losing sight of the guidelines and daily clinical practice, with a single fundamental objective: the management of the patient with pain.

Cursos de Verano Universidad Complutense de Madrid con la SED: “Sostenibilidad económica del abordaje del dolor crónico”. 5 y 6 JULIO.

For more information visit here.

Jornada SED Artrosis y Dolor del GTSED Dolor Muscoesquelético. 10 y 11 de Septiembre

More information will come soon!

XVII Congreso Nacional de la SED en Bilbao. 13 octubre al 16 octubre

On 23 and 24 April 2021, the Swiss Pain Society was able to hold the second 3-country meeting of the German-speaking pain societies. Due to the Corona pandemic, it was not possible to hold the meeting in person, so it was held online. With over two hundred registered participants from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, interest remained high despite these circumstances. The conference entitled “Chronic pain – an interdisciplinary diagnostic and therapeutic challenge” was able to shed light on the similarities and differences in the various countries.

After an international platform of the SIP Societal Impact of Pain initiative was founded in Switzerland last year, the dialogue continues. It is expected that in the second half of the year, the forum will talk about improving inpatient interdisciplinary multimodal pain therapy in terms of access, quality assurance, and remuneration.

This year, the annual conference will be held on 10 and 11 September together with Chiro Swiss on the topic of back pain.