Radiology conferences respond to shifting SARS advisories

With the World Health Organization having lifted its travel advisory for Toronto on April 29, the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine has rescheduled its annual meeting for July 10 to 16. The conference was originally scheduled to take place in Toronto in May.

Organizers of a number of conferences have been busy rescheduling, postponing, and relocating their meetings in the wake of several WHO travel advisories recommending against nonessential travel to international destinations with large numbers of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) cases.

"This decision reflects the wishes of our members, registrants, and exhibitors, who have strongly encouraged us to serve the MR community with a strong scientific and education meeting in 2003," said Dr. Richard L. Ehman, ISMRM president.

The program plan developed for the original May conference will be used as a template for the upcoming conference in June.

"Over the coming weeks, our Scientific Program Committee and Education Committee will be working intensively to renew that plan, with the goal of making the scientific, educational, business, and social events of the new program even better," Ehman said.

As of yet, the Asian & Oceanian Congress of Radiology, set to begin July 16 in Singapore, remains postponed. There are currently no plans by the organizers of the event to relocate the meeting to a different venue, although alternating venues for future meetings has been discussed, according to Lilian Leong, president of the Asian and Oceanian Society of Radiology.

The World Health Organization has reported a total of 203 SARS cases in Singapore as of May 2, 2003.

"The postponement is necessary and it is in everyone's best interest," Leong said. "We hope to have a definitive date set for the conference as soon as possible."

For more information from the Diagnostic Imaging archives:

SARS slams radiology meeting schedule
http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/dinews/2003042501.shtml

Radiology helps solve mystery of rare respiratory disease
http://www.dimag.com/dinews/2003032502.shtml