PURPOSE
The purpose of any society is to unify the members into a common goal which is to advance the practice of the specialty concerned. Our certificate of incorporation has written our purpose to: “act as consultants, counselors, advisers, analysts and facilitators in disseminating and advancing the knowledge and principles of organ transplantation surgery and encourage scientific investigation thereof, by conducting national and international meetings, local seminars, training, symposia and by other similar means approved by the members”.
After the October 2000 meeting, the society worked to achieve certification from the SEC as a professional organization and then seek recognition from the Philippine College of Surgeons (PCS) as an affiliate society. It was a long and tedious process which took about a year but this did not dampen the zeal of the officers to establish the presence of the society in the PCS. The PSTS was incorporated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last March 15, 2002 making it a duly registered professional society. The PCS later recognized the society as the latest addition of non-boarded affiliate specialty societies under its umbrella.
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Dr. Angel Joaquin M. Amante
Second President of PSTS
Prof. Chao-Long Chen, MD, PhD (Hon.)
Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
It began to participate in the PCS by sponsoring several symposia during the PCS annual convention. In 2001, the theme was “The Current State of Transplantation in the Philippines”. This was participated in by members of the who gave talks on Lung and Heart Transplants. Statistics on kidney transplants’ census, morbidity, mortality and overall graft survival were likewise presented by Drs. Ona, Liquete and Serrano. In the 2002 PCS meeting, the society, through Dr. Ona presented the Department of Health Guidelines on Living Non-Related Organ Transplantation.
In 2003, the society invited Dr. Chao Long Chen from Taiwan to a lecture and symposium on “Living Related Liver Transplantation” and in 2004, Dr. Amante delivered a dissertation on Post-Transplantation Lymphoproliferative Disorders. All meetings were well attended and generated awareness among the PCS members regarding the state of and issues surrounding the practice of transplantation.
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Equally important to the advancement of transplant education is the formulation of national policies regulating the practice or organ transplantation, particularly living non related kidney transplantation. With the increasing media investigative exposes on the Living Non-Related Donation (LNRD) and the plight of kidney donors, the senate inquiries and negative publicity in the international press and world wide web, the Society has taken it upon itself to work with the Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Society of Nephrology to establish national policies to govern LNRD. The result was the approval of Administrative Order No. 124 s. 2002 – National Policy on Kidney Transplantation from Living Non-Related Donors. This directive contains the general policy statements and operational procedures that will define and regulate the practice of LNRD; rules for accreditation of hospitals engaged in organ transplantation; the creation of the Kidney Donor Monitoring Unit (KDMU) and National Transplant Ethics Committee (NTEC) under the DOH: and the Philippine Organ Donation Program (PODP).
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The Society has taken the first steps in creating its own subspecialty board of examiners. Dr. Rose Marie O. Rosete-Liquete was tasked to initially chair the Board and set the direction and guidelines it will take. At present the board was headed by Dr. Ma. Vanessa H. De Villa.
