Conference/Seminar Comments

From 15 to 18 May the 3rd Sterilization and Re-use course took place in Izmir, Turkey. The course was organized by MSÜD, the Central Sterilization Units Society of Turkey in close collaboration with the Dokuz Eylul University Hospital. About 200 participants took part in the study days.

The organizing committee, under the chairmanship of Hulya Erbil, had done a great job and the organization was perfect. EFHSS was represented by Cornelia Hugo, Toni Zanette, Adrie de Bruijn and Wim Renders. They all presented a paper.

Remarkable and innovating was that the progamme was not tied to a strict time schedule. This meant that all the subjects could be dealt with exhaustively, which resulted in a lot more clarity. For an overview of the congress I refer to a later contribution by Hulya. However, I would just like to focus on two aspects which caught my attention.

• Firstly the enthusiasm and the eagerness to learn of the participants. They really want to know everything about sterilization. Moreover, they are prepared to compare their own way of doing things with other approaches. Their very thorough theoretical knowledge and their willingness to engage in self-criticism enhance objective analysis and decision making. This guarantees a rapid transformation process in the field of sterilization in Turkey. Education and training and the transfer of decentralized sterilization activities to a centralized unit should be given the utmost priority. EFHSS can support this process by making available its knowledge and experience.
• Secondly there is the role of the Dokuz Eylul University Hospital. This is extremely important because it stresses central sterilization as a scientific area and as a specific domain and recognizes its central position in a hospital.

Both elements, enthusiasm and a scientific underpinning can give the CSSD the momentum it needs. Izmir (Smyrna) cannot, as a leading historical world centre, escape its calling.

Wim Renders
2 June 2003