Drs David SC Hui and PC Wong, Co-chairmen of the Organizing Committee
The Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) 2006 was held successfully on March 19, 2006 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center with about 400 participants attending the event. This meeting was organized by the Hong Kong Thoracic Society and the American college of Chest Physicians (HK and Macau Chapter), sponsored by the Hong Kong Lung Foundation. 2006 is a special year as it is the 20th anniversary of the Hong Kong Thoracic Society and the 10th anniversary of the Hong Kong Lung Foundation.
The Organising Committee had designed a scientific programme that covered a wide range of important topics in Respiratory Medicine which were elegantly delivered by a panel of distinguished speakers. The programme started with a symposium on “the lungs in systemic diseases”. In this symposium, topics including lung manifestations in rheumatological diseases, tumor necrosis factor inhibitors in the lungs, and primary pulmonary hypertension were presented.
This was followed by “Recent advances in Respiratory Medicine” covering topics on new advances in thoracic imaging, lung cancer screening, and recent advances in the management of hospital-acquired pneumonia. A concurrent workshop for paramedicals on “The environment and the lungs” was also very well received. There was also an asthma symposium entitled “From treatment to control: implications to asthma guidelines”. The AGM finished with a COPD symposium which included topics on COPD epidemiology in the Asia-Pacific region, sputum bacteriology and inflammatory markers in acute exacerbation of COPD, and pharmacotherapy of COPD.
