Chairman's Welcome

It seems that the world has changed after September 11. Microbiologists and Infectious Disease specialists are now faced with new challenges, not only with the global appearance of new and re-emerging diseases, but also with the rapidly escalating movement of refugees around the world. Consequently life has never been more interesting or challenging. As an old Chinese proverb says, "May you live in interesting times". Thankfully, from the congress committee's point of view, these events provide opportunities to update attendees on the latest developments, while not neglecting the other issues of increasing public health significance such as growing antibiotic resistance. With the help of many people from our region, we hope that we have put together a program that will cater for diverse interests and provide attendees with intellectual stimulation. Our region is culturally diverse, yet the common goals of improving the standard of health care in our respective countries prevail. Over the years that I have travelled in the Western Pacific I have been impressed with just how interested the medical community is in keeping up with the latest trends, even if some of the advances appear unaffordable locally! Hence, we hope our program focuses on the 'cutting edge' of chemotherapy and infectious diseases while maintaining its relevance to our region.

Finally, I would like to thank all those who have put such a great amount of effort into making this meeting work. There are many medical meetings competing for our attentions nowadays. We believe the 8^th WPPCID will live up to the previous high standards set by our sister countries, and keep us in contact with each other and the experts.

JOHN TURNIDGE
Chairman 8^th WPPCID
President Australian Society for Antimicrobials