Visit Manchester convinces 2 medical associations to form joint event

The European-ican Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association (E-AHPBA) and the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (ASGBI) have signed an agreement to create a joint medical conference at Manchester Central.
 
The jointly-run ‘International Surgical Week’ is scheduled for 20-25 April 2015 at Manchester Central. The event involves the amalgamation of meetings by the E-AHPBA and ASGBI, in an arrangement suggested and brokered by Visit Manchester and Manchester Central.
 
It is estimated that the International Surgical Week will attract between 2,500-3,000 delegates and generate up to £5.9m to the local economy.
 
The initial bid to attract the E-AHPBA to Manchester was led by Professor Ajith Sirwardena, Consultant Surgeon at Manchester Royal Infirmary and Professor of Hepatobiliary Surgery at the University of Manchester.
 
“I’m delighted that together with colleagues we have secured this influential conference in Manchester,” he says. “This will be the first time that the E-AHPBA has held its annual meeting in Great Britain and this is a great honour for the city of Manchester. Having the conference here affirms the quality of research being undertaken in Manchester and the wider UK.
 
“Being able to co-locate the conference with the ASGBI provides unique opportunities for cross-disciplinary sharing of knowledge and will create one of the largest surgical meetings.”
 
The ASGBI Chief Executive, Professor Nicholas Gair, said: “The ‘Team Manchester’ approach has been crucial in bringing these two prestigious events together, as one local point of contact has enabled negotiations between the City and our sister society in Europe to be seamless. The co-located conferences will be an exciting event in the 2015 surgical calendar, and we are looking forward to using the many quality facilities offered by such a vibrant city.”
 
Paul Simpson, MD of Visit Manchester, added: “International Surgical Week will be a landmark event for Manchester and a clear example of the innovative thinking that the city is known for.”
   
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