Given the increasingly devastating impact of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic across the globe, the European Society of Coloproctology (ESCP) has decided that it is no longer plausible to move forward with its 15th Scientific & Annual Meeting in Vilnius, which had been scheduled for September 23-25 this year.
Please be advised that the ESCP 2020 meeting has now sadly been cancelled.
It is imperative that we put the health, safety and overall wellbeing of our members, attendees, patients and loved ones above all else at this challenging time.
As a collective of medical professionals, we have a serious responsibility to model social distancing effectively, to follow official guidance and not contribute to the spread of the virus through bringing together a mass gathering of this scale.
We have been monitoring the developing situation very closely and appreciate that travel restrictions are likely to be held in place and that critical patient care is now crucial in our communities - something that will rightly consume our work and concentration in the coming months.
ESCP Secretary, Gabriela Möslein, adds:
“You can imagine how difficult it has been to make this decision and disappoint our members, sponsors and committees after so much time and effort invested. However, not having a face-to-face meeting does not necessarily mean the cancellation of our agenda – ESCP is swiftly adapting.
“Our website, for example, is being updated daily with informative contributions on the most relevant surgical topics related to the pandemic. We have webinars, too, and are leading tweetchats and online surveys to keep us all connected and learning from one another’s experiences. Working together, our bright organisation will rise to these challenging circumstances through collaboration, education and shared guidance.
“ESCP takes pride in the strong involvement of young and passionate surgeons, who are already developing the topics originally planned for the conference into virtual resources. We will consider the opportunities for masterclasses in due time. Our focus, just now, is to first serve our patients at this time when our profession is most needed.
“We appreciate your support in this difficult decision and look forward to staying in touch as much as possible ahead of Barcelona in September 2021. We look forward to seeing you all then and will be in touch with further updates in due course.”
Please click here for some FAQ’s regarding the meeting cancellation. In the meantime, please do reach out via
Thank you for your patience and understanding and please stay safe.
Sincerely,
Willem Bemelman, ESCP President
Gabriela Möslein, ESCP Secretary
on behalf of the ESCP Executive Board