Lviv hosts eighth congress of worldwide medical federation (11/05/00)

Lviv hosts eighth congress of worldwide medical federation

by Dr. Paul J. Dzul

CHICAGO - The eighth scientific congress of the World Federation of Ukrainian Medical Associations (WFUMA) was held this year on August 13-17 in Lviv. The unveiling of a monument to Mariian Panchyshyn preceded the formal opening ceremonies of the congress.

Dr. Panchyshyn (1882-1943) was a prominent civil and political activist, head of the underground Ukrainian University in Lviv during the interwar years (1922-1925), and the founding director of Lviv's public health department (1939).

Thousands of Lviv's residents turned out to honor the memory of the late medical professor with the dedication of his statue on a tranquil plaza near the city's main medical center. Dr. Oleh Ivantsiv and docent Borys Kryvko headed the statue building committee. The Rev. Vasyl Boyanivskyi of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, along with a large retinue of priests, blessed the site.

The official opening of the WFUMA congress took place in the Ivan Franko Theater of Opera and Ballet. Along with the officers of the WFUMA, members of the Ministry of Health, Lviv municipal health authorities, and faculty of the Shevchenko Scientific Society and the Danylo Halytskyi Lviv Medical University were seated on the dais. WFUMA President Paul J. Dzul, M.D., presided over the opening ceremonies. After the opening formalities, participants were regaled with outstanding performances by some of Ukraine's renowned artists and musicians.

The scientific program of the congress was conducted both in Lviv, at the Palace of Railway Workers, and in Truskavets, Ukraine's leading resort in the Carpathian Mountains. The plenary sessions of the congress covered current issues in Ukrainian medicine. Special workshops were held on providing medical health care, medical ethics, sequelae of the Chornobyl catastrophe, including medical ecological problems, medical education and the role of civic organizations in the development of medicine.

The program also included eight sections reviewing various medical specialties. During the plenary and section meetings there were 16 participants from the United States, most of them young physicians raised and educated outside of Ukraine. They have not only mastered the language of their parents, but also are fluent in contemporary Ukrainian medical terminology.

Some of the lecturers included: Drs. Yuriy Baran, Alexander Worobec, Walter Wess, Roksolana Horbowyj, Roman Goy, Andrew Dzul, Ihor Galarnyk, Bronislaw Gorski, George Miz, Victor Onufrey, Vitaliy Piliuko, Ivan Sydorenko, Yevhen Steckiw, Jack Sharchis, George Tysovsky and the Rev. Jaroslav Nalysnyk.

Over 480 physicians took part in the congress, of which 401 were from Ukraine, mostly between the ages of 30 and 50. There were three academicians, 49 holders of medical doctorates and 94 candidates in medical studies. There were physicians from 11 foreign countries, including the United States, Canada, Argentina, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Poland, Bulgaria, Russia and Moldova. More than 60 U.S. physicians, along with their families, participated in the congress. Over 900 abstracts were published in the congress program.

The closing ceremonies of the congress were held in the historic ceremonial hall of the Lviv City Hall. At the organizational meeting held on August 15, the delegates elected to move the WFUMA offices from the United States to Kyiv.

A new executive committee was elected: Dr. Dzul, M.D. (U.S.), honorary president; Academician Liubomyr Pyrih, M.D., Ph.D., president; Myroslaw Kolenskyj, D.D.S. (U.S.), vice-president; Academician Mykhailo Pavlovskyi, M.D., Ph.D., vice-president; Tetiana Blikhar, secretary; and Roksolana Horbowyj, M.D. (U.S.), treasurer.

The WFUMA Directors Council is composed of the heads of the national medical organizations that are members of the WFUMA, including, from the United States and Canada, the president of the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America, Roman Goy, M.D., M.B.A.

The next congresses of the WFUMA will be held in 2002 in Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, and in 2004 in Chernivtsi, western Ukraine.

A parallel meeting of diagnostic imaging held at the same time as the WFUMA congress was organized by Lev Wolansky, M.D., Yurii Ivaniv, M.D., and Zenovia Stadnyk, M.D., chair of the Lviv University radiology department. The conference theme was "Current Issues in Clinical Imaging." Participants included Friends of Radiology in Ukraine members Larissa Bilaniuk, M.D., Volodymr Bula, M.D., Myron Pozniak, M.D., and Leonid Prockop, M.D. The conference took two full days, with over 360 physicians participating.

The World Federation of Ukrainian Medical Associations was organized in 1977 by Roman Osinchuk, M.D., founder of the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America (UMANA) and Achilles Chreptowsky, M.D. Its mission was to unite Ukrainian physicians throughout the world, to organize international medical congresses, and to speak out and defend physicians suppressed by the Soviet regime.

In 1982 WFUMA President Chreptowsky singlehandedly organized the various Ukrainian medical organizations of Australia, Germany, Austria and Poland. Under his leadership, WFUMA biennial congresses were held in Munich, Vienna, Kyiv-Lviv and Kharkiv. With his strong organizational skills Dr. Chreptowsky laid the strong foundations of the WFUMA, which is growing and expanding into the future.

For information, U.S. and Canadian residents may contact the UMANA at: e-mail, umana@umana.org; telephone, 1-888-RX-UMANA; fax, 1-888-55-UMANA; or visit the website at www.umana.org.

(Translated by Adrian Baranetsky, M.D.)

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