Asia-Oceania Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Congress returns to Taiwan

The Asia-Oceania Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Congress took place March 19-22 at the Taipei International Convention Center. This remarkable, up-to-date conference center is located in the shadows of the Taipei 101, which is the second tallest building in the world.

The meeting was held in conjunction with the combined spring meeting of the Taiwan Otolaryngology Society and jointly organized by the Asia-Oceania Association of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Asian Pediatric Otolaryngology Group, Taiwan Otolaryngology Societies, Asian Society of APOG, and AAO-HNS.

Seng-Po Hao, MD, FACS, FICS, the president of the Congress, did a remarkable job in organizing this meeting. There were 1,713 participants from 37 countries and 18 invited speakers from the U.S. Taiwan has waited 44 years to host the Asia-Oceania Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Congress for the second time. Taiwan last hosted this meeting in 1971. Pre-congress workshops included Sialendoscopy, by Prof. Francis Marchal (Geneva) and an APOG workshop. There were 23 keynote lectures, three forums, two special lectures, five luncheon seminars, 48 symposia, four local meetings held in Chinese, 11 workshops, 18 instruction courses, 111 oral free papers, and 249 posters.

The opening ceremony was unique in that it was the first time that Guest of Honor awards were presented. The awards acknowledge and honor recipients for lifetime dedication and achievements in the field of otolaryngology in the Asia-Oceania region. The recipients were Drs. Eugene N. Myers (US); Chong Sun Kim (Korea); Suchitria Prasansuk (Thailand); Tsun-Shen Huang (Taiwan); Shyue-Yih Chang (Taiwan); Mariano B. Caparas (Philippines); Mow-Ming Hsu (Taiwan); Shiann-Yann Lee (Taiwan); William I. Wei (Hong Kong); and Yasuya Nomura (Japan).

The opening ceremony also featured a performance of Taiwan drummers. Following the ceremony was wonderful reception in the banquet hall.  The Presidential Dinner was held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel and the Gala Dinner on Saturday night. The Gala Dinner is always a special feature of the meeting as it showcases singing from all over the geographic region by groups of doctors from that country. A great time was had by all.

The highlight for leisure activities before or after the Congress was the National Palace Museum, ranked one of the top five museums in the world. It houses the famous Jadeite Cabbage with Insects, attributed to an artist from the Ch’ing Dynasty. This museum contains the treasures of China that were taken by Gen. Ching kai-shek when he moved his forces to what was then the island of Formosa, now Taiwan.