Minutes of the General Assembly

May 13th 2017, Vilamoura

1. Tom Stiris introduced the meeting
2. The Agenda was accepted.
3. Minutes from the Winter meeting were agreed. 

4. President’s report. Tom Stiris welcomed everyone and thanked them for their work. He discussed various thoughts about how the society might progress. This included the EAP activities (around advocacy for children and educational opportunities) and the role of the UEMS (addressing training requirements and examinations), and how those aims would best be achieved.

It was agreed that working groups such as the Rare Diseases group, that were representing the view of the EAP in other forums, should continue to present their discussions to the GA.There was a feeling that the primary, secondary and tertiary group issues overlapped and that there may be value in rearranging those meetings.

It was agreed that greater representation from trainees would be beneficial. National delegates were encouraged to appoint a national trainee delegate who would be encouraged to attend the meetings.

The President finished by welcoming the two new national delegates from Finland and Malta

5. Report of the Secretary-General. Adamos Hadjipanayis reviewed the activity of the society over the year. Over the last year the Eur J Paediatr has published 5 statements on behalf of the EAP, and these are available on the website although only via links. It was agreed that full access to the articles would be beneficial and the EAP will approach the journal to see whether that might be possible, both for viewing and for translation and access on national websites. Adamos also described the society’s links with external groups such as EMA and EPHA. The membership numbers of the EAP are broadly stable with 380 members, 140 of whom are young members. Lastly he reviewed the encouraging increase in the number of abstract submissions to the forthcoming Masterclass meeting.

6. Financial report. Arunas Valiulis presented a financial review of both the UEMS account, and the separate EAP account. The bank accounts are both in a very healthy position. The information on the accounts had been made available to delegates a month ahead of the meeting, and had been reviewed by 3 of the national delegates. Income for the UEMS account is mostly from national subscriptions and EACCME funds. The EAP income is more variable (relating to the EAPS conference) but overall around a third of our income is from national contributions and a third from the EAPS meeting. 

There was some discussion about the reimbursement of those representing the EAP at other meetings, and of the officers of the EAP who spent considerable time working for the society, especially those who lost income during these periods. It was agreed that Francis Rubel would send a proposal to the President on this issue, and that the EC would discuss this further.

7. Liaison Officer. Stefano del Torso reviewed the activity of his team over this year. The EAP now has a number of important links within Brussels and Europe more widely. These include a formal link with EPHA, and increasing output from MOCHA (with whom 20 reports have been created, 6 of which have gone to the EC). We are close to agreeing a 1-2 year plan with Low Associates – a Public Relation group with whom we are planning to combine increased fund raising with better access to lobbying. Links with ISSOP and ESWI were also briefly discussed.

It was requested that brief statements/reports of these meetings be produced and made available to the delegates and this was agreed.

8. Permanent Councils. Brief reports from each working group were made. Details of those meetings are available within the minutes from the group. 

9. Primary/Secondary care. The particular area of discussion was around the creation of a ‘specialty’ of primary care paediatrics. It was agreed that work on a syllabus (based on the ECPCP document deleting what is present in the Common trunk and focusing or adding the learning needs related to innovative aspects of primary care in the community )  should begin with a view to presenting it at the winter meeting. Once reviewed by the councils, it would proceed to GA for approval.

The draft of the EAP statement on minimal training requirements for health care professionals caring for children was also discussed and will be finalized in the next months. 

10. Tertiary care. The syllabus for Allergology was approved at the meeting. It was also suggested and agreed that a more formal agreement should be sought between the tertiary group and the specialist societies supporting recognized subspecialties.

1. Working groups. Brief reports to the GA were received from the Advocacy, Rare Diseases, EAPRASnet, Ethics, Adolescent Care and Health and Vaccination groups. A few action points that arose were:
2. The Vaccination group and EAPRASnet will concentrate on immunisation coverage and vaccine confidence as their projects.
3. The Ethics group requested that EAP statements should be grouped in an accessible folder on the website and be marked with a ‘shelf-life’ of 3 years.
4. The Advocacy Group is preparing a EAP Guideline for first contact care for migrant children in Europe which will ultimately result in a paper and a practical checklist (on EAP website). 

11. Social media and the EAP. Lenneke Schrier reviewed the EAP core mission and goals. There has been considerable progress over the last year. She reviewed our target groups – both politicians, but also other colleagues and groups. A recent survey within the EC suggested three areas of focus – migrant health, communicable diseases (including antibiotic resistance) and public health (including vaccination, tobacco control and obesity). The Twitter account and the LinkedIn site have been particularly successful. Delegates were encouraged to participate. 

12. Any other business. Volunteers to host the Spring Meeting were discussed. It was agreed that Bulgaria (2018), Malta (2019) and Croatia (2020) would be chosen.