Prevention Committee

At the meetings of the Prevention Committee and the Council Executive at the 46th ASM in Iceland in June, the Committee agreed to develop a Strategic Plan for presentation to the Executive in February 2008. Committee members will review the Draft Strategic Plan in November 2007. From this strategy we will develop the management and operational plans for the near future. As part of this review of its structure and function, some new members have agreed to join the Committee. Further review of the membership will take into account the need for succession planning.

The Prevention Symposium at the ISCoS meeting in Reykjavik took a slightly different format from previous years. There were general presentations from a number of regions in the first session - South Africa, Victoria Australia, New Zealand, South Asia and the Nordic countries. In the second session, there were brief presentations, followed by discussion, on a number of specific topics - RTA, work trauma, rugby and horse riding. Following this symposium it is hoped to develop an ongoing working party to liaise with local people on prevention programmes for specific causes of SCI. The aim is for the Committee to be active between ISCoS Scientific Meetings, playing a part in the development and application of prevention programmes in various parts of the world as the opportunities arise.

Contributions from the general membership of ISCoS are very welcome. Local ISCoS members are usually the best contacts for linking the Committee to important local, governmental, NGO and community groups who are interested in developing prevention programs for their region.

Dr D Brown
DouglasJ.Brown@austin.org.au