Dear Colleagues,
I hope this email finds you and your families well and safe. I know we are all eager to see one another in person again, but unfortunately, we will have to wait a little longer.
Up to this date, we have been planning a hybrid Annual Meeting with an optimistic spirit, assuming that we would be able to meet in person after having to transition to a virtual format last year. However, many locations continue to experience second and third waves of the pandemic, and travel restrictions – as well as limits on group gatherings – continue.
With the health and safety of all of our attendees foremost in mind, the IUGA Board, in consultation with the Local Organizing Committee, has made the difficult decision to convert the IUGA 46th Annual Meeting to a fully virtual event.
Though we all yearn for a return to meeting in person, the good news is that we already have a stellar scientific program planned, and virtual delivery means we can again reach a wide audience and provide educational opportunities to many members who would be unable – for a variety of reasons – to travel to an in-person meeting. Sponsors and attendees alike will benefit from making contacts with individuals who they might not otherwise encounter at an in-person meeting. The broader reach provided by a virtual delivery format aids IUGA in fulfilling our mission to advance urogynecological knowledge and patient care on a global level through education and the promotion of basic science and clinical research on disorders of the female pelvic floor.
With this move to a virtual delivery format, we are slightly shifting the dates for this meeting to December 9-12, 2021. By moving the meeting to include a full weekend, we believe this will better allow attendees to dedicate themselves fully to the IUGA 46th Annual Meeting while more easily balancing work, learning, and personal life commitments.
Watch your email inbox for more news to come! We’ll soon be posting the program online as well as opening registration. We look forward to having you join us for the best-ever IUGA Virtual 46th Annual Meeting, December 9-12, 2021.
Most sincerely,
Jorge Milhem Haddad, President
