History, principles and legacy of European Paediatric Association, the Union of National European Paediatric Societies and Associations (EPA-UNEPSA)

The European Paediatric Association (EPA) is a pan-European scientific association which is the Union of National European Paediatric Societies and Associations (EPA-UNEPSA), www.epaunepsa.org. The main objective of EPA-UNEPSA is to encourage scientific co-operation between not-for-profit national European paediatric scientific societies and associations and between European paediatricians working in primary, secondary and tertiary paediatric care in Europe, in order to promote child health and comprehensive paediatric care. Founded 44 years ago, it now represents over 50 National European Paediatric Societies and Associations and operates on a non-profit basis. Its General Assembly is made by the Presidents of the major national pediatric societies active in the Nations of geographic Europe, and currently represents more than three-quarters of all European countries, working closely with the major international organisations, including WHO, UN, EMA and the Council of Europe. History and legacy of EPA/UNEPSA Since 1976, EPA-UNEPSA has been trying to establish scientific collaboration among paediatricians and experts involved in the care of individuals in their developmental years. Such activity involved almost two generations of European pediatricians. During the international conference on the nutrition of infants and children in August 1975 in Montreux, Switzerland, 11 delegates of different European national pediatric societies decided to found UNEPSA. On June 20, 1976, the official foundation of UNEPSA took place in the St Sophia Children's Hospital in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and the constitution was ratified by 18 representatives of national pediatric societies in Europe. Since the immediate years after its foundation, the activities of EPA-UNEPSA were characterised by a tremendous efficiency, with friendly interaction between the active members to promote communication among pediatric centers in Europe. EPA-UNEPSA continuously aimed to enhance primary, secondary, and tertiary pediatric care of all European children. Achieving the goal, EPA-UNEPSA relied on the principal challenges of international social responsibility with respect to children by initiating a strategy and basis for collection of demographic data, communication, confidentiality, cooperation, and consensus of all decision makers. In 1987, Bertil Lindquist and Klaus Betke gave a critical review of the achievements of UNEPSA during the first 10 years. The two main achievements during these initial years were: the integration of European pediatrics into worldwide pediatrics as represented by the International Pediatric 1 SciTech Europa Quarterly 32 www.scitecheuropa.eu www.scitecheuropa.eu SciTech Europa Quarterly 32 2 Association (IPA), and the stimulation of professional contact between pediatricians from Eastern and Western Europe. This was a key issue during the time in which the iron curtain had descended across the European continent. The merit of the UNEPSA pioneers was that they created the basis for future communication and cooperation among European pediatricians which has characterised the profile of the Society ever since and currently. Managing the health care of infants, children, and adolescents in Europe requires balancing clinical aims, research findings, and socioeconomic goals within an international environment characterised by cultural and economic complexity and large disparity in availability, affordability, and accessibility of pediatric car