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The World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) was established much later than the most-famous national societies of anaesthesia but much earlier than most of its constituent members. This is why the organisation saw a fivefold increase of its membership within 50 years.
Although not a historian, I have nevertheless assumed the task of writing a chapter on the history of the establishment of the WFSA. So I am a historian now! E.H. Carr [1], in his reflections on history and on the role of the historian, compares the course of history with a moving procession winding along the past. “The metaphor”, he writes, “is fair enough, provided it does not tempt the historian...
Explaining the American perspective on the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) is a daunting but welcome challenge. There is something unique, and perhaps incomprehensible to those who live outside the United States, about the attitude of Americans to international organizations. Often Americans are perceived as isolationist, xenophobic, and loath to make international commitments...
In the 1990s the Executive Committee of the Federation decided to document the first 50 years since the foundation of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA). Among a few others, I was approached by past President John Zorab to contribute a chapter on the early history, including regionalisation.
The World Congresses of the WFSA provide significant milestones around which the organisation has evolved. The meeting in Scheveningen, in The Netherlands, in 1955, at which the WFSA was founded, is rightly regarded as the first WFSA World Congress of Anaesthesiologists, since this was the first time Societies of Anaesthesiologists from various countries sent individuals as official delegates to a...
The Presidential Medallion has an interesting history that is recorded in full below. I am indebted to Mayrhofer and Parsloe for the following details. The original design was made by Dr. Juan Marín Osorio from Colombia. Dr. Marín was born in 1907 in the rural community of Sonson, near Medellin, Colombia. He entered the Medical School of Bogotá in 1928, but dropped out in 1932/1933 to become a “chloroformist”...
It was not long after the foundation of WFSA that there was a widespread feeling that 4 years was too long between major international congresses. Mayrhofer recalls that it was Cecil Gray (UK) who, whilst attending the Central European Meeting in Düsseldorf in 1959, suggested that WFSA should hold a European Congress half way between its World Congresses. This idea was readily accepted. As a result,...
To attempt to define boundaries in a continuum is to risk creating artificial entities. Organisations do not exist in a vacuum but change and evolve continuously according to the circumstances in which they find themselves. Perhaps the greatest change over the last 20 years has been the increasing financial strength of the Federation, allowing the practical development of ideas that had evolved over...
WFSA had for some time been collaborating with the World Health Organisation (WHO) when in 1982 a request came to John Zorab from WHO Pharmaceuticals to comment on possible inclusions of anaesthetic drugs in the WHO list of essential drugs. John realised that it would be much more helpful to give advice not only on the drugs but on the ways in which they should be used - with implications for both...
In the photo below Fig. 1, the flag raising ceremony for the 1st 1st Asian and Australasian Congress of Anaesthesiology (AACA), is pictured the New Zealand delegate, Dr. James Church of New Plymouth. It was he who had previously, first stimulated my interest in the practice of anaesthesia during my initial hospital internship. Little did I realise at that time what a profound effect that would have...
Europe has always been a strong supporter of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) and indeed they were instrumental in the original creation of the organisation. Much of that early contribution has been detailed elsewhere. Europe has always had a strong regional voice in anaesthesia and there has been a myriad of European general and specialist societies over the years that...
The political situation in the USSR after World War II made international contacts difficult, with the Communist Party and the KGB controlling all personal contacts and correspondence. However, there were good medical libraries in the main cities (Moscow, Leningrad, capitals of republics), which were financed by the government. Moreover, in order to keep abreast with medical and research advances...
It was a truly memorable day, 19 September 1972, when the 5th World Congress of Anaesthesiologists (WCA), sponsored by the World Federation of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) and organised by the Japanese Society of Anaesthesiologists (JSA), took place in the beautiful city of Kyoto, an ancient capital of Japan. This congress was presided over by Professor Hideo Yamamura, University of Tokyo, and chaired...
The foundation of the South African Society of Anaesthetists (SASA) on 1 August 1943 was an event of major significance in the development of South African medicine. It was the result of a historical chain of events and the tireless service and selfless devotion of a few dedicated individuals. It is thus to the lasting credit of those that came after the “masters” that the ideals of the society were...
The marvellous developments in the practice of anaesthesia during the last 3 decades have permitted very safe anaesthesia for most patients undergoing surgery in Europe and America, but have had no benefit for the population of the developing world. In Africa, despite real progress in the past few years, the situation is one of the worst in the world. However, there has been a positive evolution in...
In 1964, at the World Congress in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Robert Hing-son of Cleveland Ohio reported his ideas of a “brother to broth-foundation” to provide assistance for anaesthesia in developing countries. The WFSA executive supported the concept and established an “Anaesthesia Education and Relief Foundation”. Its members included John Bonica, Francis Foldes, and E.M. Papper of the United States, Luis...
The treasurer, with the Finance Committee, and financial advisers, proposes to the Executive Committee financial and budget plans, to implement the aims of the WFSA, advises on changing circumstances; and supervises the implementation of the plans and budgets.
The World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) was founded in 1955 at the 1st World Congress of Anaesthesiologists (WCA) with a clearly stated and noble objective: “to make available the highest standards of anaesthesia to all peoples of the world” [1]. The 1996 statutes re-stated that objective as “anaesthesia and resuscitation”. To that end several pursuits are listed, including:...
Much has happened since it was decided at the International Anaesthesia Congress in Paris in 1951 that a world organisation should be set up. An Interim Committee was set up with Harold Griffith as chairman. The other members were Alexandre Goldblatt (Belgium), John Gillies (UK), Jacques Boureau (France), Torsten Gordh (Sweden), with Jean Francisque Delafresnaye from the Council for International...
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