Mexico City, Mexico - 2006

Minutes of the General Assembly of IAPA on March 19th 2006 at the Sheraton Hotel, Mexico City (during the XIII International IAPA Symposium)

  • Present: Jose Barajas, Pedro Berruecos, Linda Luxon, Dafydd Stephens, Bo Walter and 8 members of the Association.
  • Apologies for absence: Konrad Konradsson, Bo Walter, Valerie Newton, Alessandro Martini, Lionel Collet
  1. Officers - the following were ratified by the meeting:
    • President - Linda Luxon
    • Vice President - Lionel Collet
    • Past President - Jose Barrajas
    • Secretary-General - Konrad Konradsson
    • Hon. Treasurer - Bo Walter (Elina Mäki-Torkko)
    • Co-opted members: Mariola Sliwinska-Kowalska, Dafydd Stephens
    • Members at Large - Manfred Gross (Phoniatrics), Mohamed Hamid (USA)
  2. Constitution
    • The changes proposed on the website were ratified.
    • It was agreed that further amendments should be prepared including the establishment of Members at Large, representing the WHO regions. It was also agreed to amend the constitution so that non-EC members requested by the EC to represent IAPA at outside meetings could be funded.
  3. Audiological Medecine - DS reported on the meeting of the Editorial Board held on March 13th 2006.
    • There is an urgent need to register the Audiological Medicine in PubMed and Medline. Susan Jerger and Richard Smith strongly support such an initiative, and an application letter will be prepared in May by Taylor & Francis in conjunction with Alessandro Martini. A draft had been circulated at the Editorial Board meeting.
    • A review of membership of the Editorial Board members had taken place and new members were invited and others thanked for their help.
    • There had been a significant increase in the circulation of the Journal with the affiliation of the Danish and Swedish Audiological Medicine Associations.
    • A special issue on Auditory Processing Disorders was due out shortly. The next special issue of Audiological Medicine is on “Noise damage to hearing” with issue editors – Ron Hinchcliffe and Mariola Sliwinska-Kowalska.
  4. Publicity - It was agreed that there should be a designated member of the EC responsible for publicising the Association and producing an aide-memoir for Conference organisers. Ewa Raglan agreed to take on this role.
  5. 2008 Conference
    • There was considerable discussion of this matter as, in the absence of Mariola Sliwinska-Kowalska, it was no longer clear that she still wanted to continue with this organisation. It was agreed that any future meeting should not be linked with an ENT meeting and should, ideally, be a freestanding meeting. There was also concern that there was no direct involvement of the Polish Audiological Society. It was agreed that LL and JB draft a letter for KK to send to MS-K in order to clarify matters. Contingency plans discussed should it not be possible to proceed with a Polish venue included having the meeting either in Italy or in Oxford.
    • Round Tables:
      1. To depend on conference organiser. MS-K has proposed “Pharmacological prevention and treatment of sensorineural hearing loss”
      2. (EC) “Genetics of vestibular disorders” – Moderator LL
      3. General assembly – After considerable discussion and voting, two themes were agreed – “Aetiology of age-related hearing impairment” – moderator DS; “Global development of Audiological Medicine” – moderator Deirdre Lucas.
  6. Treasurer’s Report - BW presented the current, healthy financial situation (attached), with increased reserves of 21 485 Euros on December 31st 2005 compared with 18 024 Euros at the end of 2004. It was agreed that membership dues be held at the present level of 50 Euros. It was agreed that Elina Mäkki-Torrko should work in conjunction with him and gradually take over the role.
  7. Summer School - Sweden/Denmark - It was agreed that the summer school be held in Lund, possibly in October. LL will organise the academic side of the meeting and KK the accommodation and venue.

Dafydd Stephens