IGCS Members and Friends,
Over the past several years, IGCS has curated relationships with many Latin American regional groups, supporting a variety of educational courses over the years, leading up to the recent successful IGCS Meeting in Rio de Janeiro. IGCS is uniquely positioned to provide programs and resources to help strengthen local societies and connect the members in these regional societies to a global network of gynecologic oncologists to share experiences and knowledge.
Since the launch of our Strategic Alliance Partner program in 2017, IGCS Membership representation in Latin America has increased by over 400 percent, growing from 99 to 423 members.
The IGCS Council is grateful for the efforts of Dr. René Pareja (Colombia) who has been instrumental in helping IGCS identify the many diverse needs in the region.
I am pleased to announce that the Chilean Society of Gynecologic Oncology and the Peruvian Society of Gynecological Oncology recently joined our Strategic Alliance Partner Program. And earlier this year, the Mexican College of Gynecologic Oncology invited us to their congress to promote IGCS membership.
Chilean Society of Gynecologic Oncology
The Chilean Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SCHIGO) has joined the IGCS Strategic Alliance Partnership bringing a total of 44 Chilean members to our global community. SCHIGO was established in 2001 to promote the study of gynecologic cancer in Chile.
At the recent IGCS Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, IGCS President, Roberto Angioli met with the President of SCHIGO, Dr. Clemente Arab to discuss and finalize a partnership between our organizations.
This is not the first time that IGCS and SCHIGO have worked together to bring education and training to Chile; we collaborated in 2015 to host a regional meeting in Santiago.
Peruvian Society of Gynecologic Oncology
We are also pleased to announce that the Peruvian Society of Gynecological Oncology joined the Strategic Alliance Partner Program bringing the total of our Peruvian members up to 113. Gorky Bances Neyra, the current President of Society, was instrumental in securing this partnership.
The Peruvian Society of Gynecological Oncology was founded in 1995 to promote educational and training activities in the area of gynecology oncology for its members and interested health professionals. The membership is multi-disciplinary in nature and includes members specializing in gynecologic oncology, surgical oncology, pathology, nuclear medicine, medical oncology, radiotherapy, and genetics.
This is our second Strategic Alliance Partner group from Peru.
Mexican College of Gynecologic Oncology
Earlier this year, IGCS was invited to Querétaro, Mexico for the 1st Congress of the Mexican College of Gynecologic Oncology (CMOG) by the President, Dr. Victor Manuel Vargas Hernández and Vice President, Dr. Guillermo Sidney Herbert Nuñez.
At the meeting, Dr. René Pareja presented the benefits of IGCS membership to congress attendees and encouraged them to join.. Our staff was received with enthusiasm, and nearly 50 new members joined our society during the 2-day congress bringing our total of members practicing in Mexico to 70.
Overall, the event was a huge success in beginning to develop a reciprocal relationship with the gynecologic oncology professionals in Mexico. This was a great opportunity and we hope to have the chance to visit many more regional groups to further accomplish the IGCS mission to improve the care of women worldwide.
Our conversations with regional leaders in Latin American have made us aware that issues of interest include pre-invasive cervical cancer management, new management approaches to breast cancer, enhanced laparoscopic surgery and updated tumor staging. These topics were incorporated into the IGCS Annual Global Meeting recently held in Brazil.
We are so grateful to our partners, members, and supporters who - along with us - live our mission every day. If you have any questions or comments about partnering with the IGCS please contact me directly at mary.eiken@igcs.org.
Sincerely,
Mary Eiken, MS
IGCS CEO