19 WORLD GASTROENTEROLOGY NEWS SEPTEMBER 2015 Editorial | Expert Point of View | Gastro 2015: AGW/WGO | WDHD News | WGO & WGOF News | WGO Global Guidelines | Calendar of Events World Digestive Health Day 2015 Celebrated in Turkey Serhat Bor, MD Professor in Gastroenterology Ege University School of Medicine, Sect Gastroenterology Bornova Izmir, Turkey 29 May was World Digestive Health Day (WDHD). The World Gastro-enterology Organization’s declaration of the 2015 theme as “Heartburn” was celebrated in Turkey with special events. On this day various acitvities were performed globally and in Turkey; after two years of work, the “Turkish GERD Consensus Report” was launched on this special day to increase awareness about the disease. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) exhibits different features in Turkey than in Western countries. For example, only 1% of GERD patients have Barrett’s esophagus, the main symptom is acid regurgitation rather than heartburn,and the prevalance of Helicobacter pylori is up to 75% in the population; these are all differences compared to western literature. Thus there was a strong need for a consensus report about the diagnosis and treat-ment methods of reflux in Turkey. The From left to right: Altay Celebi, Ismail Hakki Kalkan, Taylan Kav, Serhat Bor, Ulku Dagli, Ibrahim Hatemi, and Zeynel Mungan. Turkish Society of Gastroenterology’s Neurogastroenterology and Motility Study Group has been working on a Reflux Consensus Report for nearly two years. Seventeen academics and research fellows dedicated an intensive effort during this time. Research results were discussed with 56 invited gastro-enterology specialists and then voted in order to make it Turkey’s decision. Numerous representatives of promi-nent news agencies in Turkey par-ticipated in the press conference. The Turkish GERD Consensus Report was very popular among TV, newspaper, journals, and internet media outlets, both written and visual and was cov-ered in more than 50 places. The physicians panel following the press conference hosted 60 gastroenter-ology specialists and internal medicine specialists, with nearly 100 gastroen-terology specialists watching the event live on the internet. During the panel, details and results of the study were described and questions answered. News agencies at the Turkish Society of Gastroenterology’s press conference.
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