Thirty-Six Years of the European Paediatric Association–Union of National European Paediatric Societies and Associations (EPA-UNEPSA)

Abstract

Managing the health care of infants, children, and adolescents in Europe requires balancing clinical aims, research findings, and socioeconomic goals within an international environment characterized by cultural and economic complexity and large disparity in availability, affordability, and accessibility of pediatric care. Since 1976, the European Paediatric Association (EPA), formerly Union of National European Paediatric Societies and Associations (UNEPSA), has been trying to establish this balance, involving almost two generations of European pediatricians. This report explores how EPA-UNEPSAhas gone through evolutionary periods anddescribes the founding generation of pioneers, as well as the formulation of clinical aims. This is the first of several reports examining the highlights of the association and its congresses (EUROPAEDIATRICS), including the research activities according to each stage of development. 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 (Table I). The first 10-year period of EPA-UNEPSA was an era of 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 were: (1) the integration of European pediatrics into worldwide pediatrics as represented by the International Pediatric Association; and (2) the stimulation of professional contact between pediatricians from Eastern and Western Europe. The merit of the UNEPSA pioneers was that they created the basis for future communication and cooperation among European pediatricians.