Outgoing President's Address: Issues and Initiatives in Pain Education, Communication, and Research

摘要

The 10th World Congress on Pain has presented topics covering virtually every aspect of acute and chronic pain, from basic science to clinical management. It was complemented by several satellite meetings and by the refresher courses that were capably organized by Maria Adele Giamberardino. This highly successful multidisciplinary congress, with 5,500 scientific delegates and over 6,400 registrants, included 20 plenary lectures and addresses, 81 workshops, 1,686 poster presentations, and 83 exhibitors. I thank Jonathan Dostrovsky and the Scientific Program Committee for organizing such a splendid scientific program. In addition, I am grateful to the Local Arrangements Committee, chaired by Sandra Chaplan, which helped provide a diverse range of optional excursions and activities in the beautiful city of San Diego and its surrounding regions. When I became president of the International Association for the Study of Pain 3 years ago, I noted several areas in the pain field that warranted increased attention (Sessle 1999). This chapter focuses on three of these areas: education, communication, and research. It describes progress that has been made in these areas and highlights the importance of the efforts of IASP and pain researchers and clinicians in continuing to address them.