The 13th ASPA congress was held on 12th-14th June 2015 at the beautiful Island of Penang, also know as ‘The Pearl of the Orient’, Malaysia. It was held in conjunction with the Annual Scientific Congress of the Malaysian Society of Anaesthesiologists and the College of Anaesthesiologists, Academy of Medicine Malaysia.
A pre-congress workshop ‘Paediatric Perioperative Life Support Course’ was conducted on 10th & 11th June. The aim of the course was to assist anesthesiologists to anticipate, prevent and manage perioperative crisis in children undergoing surgery. The participants for this workshop were those who have attended the preliminary workshop in Singapore in December 2014, coming together to fine tune the various modules and to map out strategies for introduction of this course to ASPA member countries. There were 38 participants from Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, Malaysia, India and Hong Kong.
The theme of the ASPA congress was ‘Making Paediatric Anaesthesia Safer’ . Taking this into consideration, the programme planned by the Scientific Committee covered a wide range of topics with the aim of addressing safety in providing anaesthesia for children. The topics included current as well as controversial issues which would be of interest not only to the paediatric anaesthesiologists but also to the generalists. The panel of speakers were prominent Paediatric Anaesthesiologists from the Asian regions and as well as from UK, USA , Australia, and the Netherlands. There were plenary lectures as well as symposia. Each of these was well attended not only by ASPA members but also by anaesthetic trainees as well as anaesthetic specialists who do occasional paediatric anaesthesia.
Social programme included a Faculty night for speakers, held at Cheong Fatt Tze mansion, a UNESCO heritage building in Georgetown Penang. We were given a tour of the mansion, treated to a wayang kulit show (shadow play) and a 10 course Chinese dinner. A Gala diner was held in the Ballroom where we were treated to some local performances and dances besides a 8 course dinner. One of the highlights of the social programme was the durian party where delegates had opportunity to taste durian regarded by those who love it as king of fruits.
The 13th ASPA congress has, as in the past , allowed members in the Asian region an opportunity to share our knowledge, experiences in the field of Paediatric Anaesthesia. Besides, friendship that have been made over the years were renewed and new friendships too. The friendship and the comradeship were very evident among our members.
ASPA is grateful to the Malaysian Society of Anaesthesiologists and the College of Anaesthesiologists, Academy of Medicine Malaysia for allowing this congress to be held in conjunction with their Annual Scientific Congress. We would like to thank them for all the help and support they have rendered without which we would not be able to hold this meeting.I would also like to thank all ASPA delegates for contributing in one way or another to make this Congress a success.
We meet again in 2017 in Mumbai for the 14th ASPA congress. Till then, God bless
Dr. Felicia Lim
Organising Chairperson
13th ASPA congress