Embrace Slovakia during the EAU 10th Central European Meeting
Prof. Jan Breza talks about highlights of the meeting and his country´s history
The EAU 10th Central European Meeting (CEM) will be held on 22 and 23 October in Bratislava, Slovakia, one of the oldest historical cities in the region. Professor Jan Breza is proud to be chairman of this meeting in his home town. 
Prof. Breza: “I attended all EAU CEM meetings; the second one was also held in Bratislava in 2002. What all these meetings have in common is their high-level scientific programme and the friendly atmosphere. This has always encouraged people to come and attend the meeting“.
The reason to organise this meeting is the dissemination of knowledge. “Urologists who work clinically should be able to familiarise themselves with and make use of the newest technologies in urology; these are presented at the CEM. There is no practice without theory”, says Breza.
Professor Breza looks forward to the event, which he expects will attract between 300 and 400 participants. “I believe the meeting will especially attract urologists from Slovakia and the Czech Republic. I will personally contact all Slovakian urologists, 270 in total. Furthermore, we have close ties with the Polish urologists, perhaps because our languages are so similar. I do hope they will join us in large numbers”.
Urology is an art
“Clinicians have their own fields of interest, these should all be represented at the CEM meeting. I feel that urology is an art based on science and experience. The brain and hands of the surgeon play a crucial role here and we should learn from each other. Therefore I invite authors to submit abstracts of their recent work for poster presentations at the CEM“, Breza explains. The scientific committee will make a selection of abstracts according to their scientific merits. What is more, the registration fee will be waived for presenters of accepted posters and valuable poster awards will be presented. Abstract submission can be made online through http://abstracts.uroweb.org. The deadline for abstract submission is 1 July 2010. And another advantage of the meeting: it is accredited within the EU-ACME programme by the European Board of Urology in compliance with the EBU/UEMS regulations.
Slovakian medicine
Although a regional meeting is very useful to exchange knowledge and establish new contacts, there is not that much difference between Central and Western Europe in the field of urology in the eyes of Jan Breza. “We have the same knowledge and experience, only the social factors are very different. For example, we have mandatory insurance for the entire population (5 million inhabitants). There are 6 insurance companies, one of them insures 75% of the population. Medical service is free of charge. In acute situations the patient has access to a medical specialist.
Slovakian medicine is changing step by step, but we do not yet have the same high-quality equipment as our German friends. But we are as skilful, perhaps even more so I dare say.
It is all a matter of money and the economic situation is definitely improving, which is beneficial to all of us.”
Fantastic venue
Crown Plaza hotel, a four-star hotel in downtown Bratislava, is the venue of this year´s CEM meeting. It was built for the government and was recently reconstructed. Another 3 hotels in the neighbourhood of the venue offer good quality accommodation for reasonable prices.
“Bratislava is a fantastic place to stay. Slovakia used to be part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire and after the Austrian-Hungarian army was beaten by the Turks in 1526, the capital was moved from Budapest to Bratislava and remained capital for over 200 years. There is a beautiful Gothic church where 19 kings and queens were crowned. Get a glimpse of it while you are in Bratislava! Maria-Theresia, the only woman on the Habsburg throne, was crowned here in 1741 and ruled the country from the castle of Bratislava, where we intend to organise our social evening.
After these glory days the socialist regime was installed almost 100 years ago. Life behind the iron curtain was not always easy, however, not everything was bad. There was a great deal of attention for medical care; numerous new hospitals were built. The social system was better; there was no unemployment, while now we see an unemployment rate of over 12 %. But I prefer to look forward: the introduction of economics to Slovakian medicine is urgently needed and quite a challenge”, says Breza.
He concludes: “I know the EAU 10th CEM meeting will be very successful, for a large part thanks to the continuous efforts of Congress Consultants staff, who do an excellent job organising this meeting every year.”