From Singapore to Toronto, radiology conference organizers are either postponing or relocating their summer conferences as a result of fears over severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
The increasing number of SARS cases has led to advisories from the World Health Organization recommending the postponement of all nonessential travel to regions hit hard by SARS. On April 2, the WHO recommended cessation of all nonessential travel to Hong Kong and China's Guangdong Province. On April 23, it added Beijing and Shanxi Province in China, and Toronto, Canada, to the travel advisory.
Although Singapore was not listed in the WHO travel advisories, the Ministry of Health there has advised on its Web site that the public should avoid travel to SARS-affected areas, which include Singapore. The organizers of the Asian and Oceanian Congress of Radiology have deferred the biannual congress in Singapore, originally scheduled for July 16-19, until the disease outbreak stabilizes.
On April 24, the president of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine announced that the meeting set to begin May 10 in Toronto would be postponed.
"As a scientific organization, the society has relied on the recommendations of authoritative bodies such as the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization," said Dr. Richard L. Ehman, ISMRM president.
No new date or location for the meeting was announced, but Ehman promised that a new schedule would be provided as soon as possible to provide more options to holders of airline tickets.
While some conference organizers are postponing events until further notice, others are relocating their meetings. After the WHO travel restriction advisory was extended to Toronto, the Society for Vascular Surgery and the American Association for Vascular Surgery announced that their annual meeting would be moved from Toronto to Chicago. The meeting is scheduled for June 8-11.
Earlier this month, the American Association of Cancer Research canceled its meeting in Toronto.
Information regarding rebooking, refunds, and details on the rescheduled and relocated meetings can be found at Web sites for the individual organizations.
