28 WORLD GASTROENTEROLOGY NEWS AUGUST 2015 Editorial | Expert Point of View | Gastro 2015: AGW/WGO | WDHD News | WGO & WGOF News | WGO Global Guidelines | Calendar of Events Spanish Society of Digestive Diseases (SEPD) Federico Argüelles Arias, MD Secretary Spanish Society of Digestive Diseases (SEPD) Seville, Spain The Spanish Society of Digestive Dis-eases (SEPD) is a scientific and profes-sional organization with a professional executive structure that brings together more than 2,550 physicians. Some of the many scientific, strategic, and institutional initiatives that the SEPD has recently led and presented to the recent SED Confer-ence (Semana Enfermedades Digesti-vas, Spanish Digestive Diseases Week) are listed below. A committed scientific society The SEPD is working on a scien-tific position paper on PPIs (proton-pump inhibitors), one of the drugs most prescribed both by digestive and primary care specialists. PPIs From left to right: Drs. Francisco Bosques, President of AMG, and Fernando Carballo, President of the SEPD. Image of the 2015 SED held in Seville. are considered safe, convenient, and effective medicines even when used daily However, in recent years there have been several articles suggesting possible long-term side effects; these have caused alarm among patients and society. This has been the impetus for a position paper on PPIs led by the SEPD to provide evidence on ques-tions raised regarding their efficacy and safety. (Press release). Moreover, in 2013 the SEPD creat-ed the Working Group on Biosimilars and was one of the first Spanish sci-entific societies to develop a position paper on the use, effectiveness, and safety of biologic medical products through a joint document with the SEF (Spanish Society of Pharmacol-ogy). Also, the SEPD has recently, signed the “Manifesto for Patient Safety in biological treatments” that drives the General Alliance of Patients (AGP), and in which more stringent drug-surveillance was claimed in the prescription of medications biosimilar or biological in order to ensure patient safety. (Press release). Formative institutional collaboration The SEPD and the Mexican Asso-ciation of Gastroenterology (AMG) have just signed a new partnership agreement to develop joint training projects. This agreement represents a further step to promote coopera-tion between the two organizations with the signing of a framework of co-membership that includes mutual participation in scientific meetings of both institutions (ensuring inclusion in the scientific programs of meet-ings agreed by each national society). Other shared objectives included a reduction in the share of partners and the intention to seek ‘national research groups’ researchers interested in incorporating training, making resources available to both scientific organizations.
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