quigley.qxp 14/4/08 12:03 Page 14
Current Issues
Fifty Years of the World Gastroenterology Organisation
a report by
Eamonn MM Quigley, MD
President, World Gastroenterology Organisation (WGO), and Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre, National University of Ireland, Cork
In 2008 the World Gastroenterology Organisation (WGO) marks its silver hepatitis alphabet continues to be added to, and genetic factors in the
jubilee, an occasion that gives us all an opportunity to consider the causation of virtually every gastrointestinal, pancreatic, and hepato-biliary
development and current status of this organization and, indeed, of disease are defined almost on a daily basis) and therapy (so-called
global gastroenterology in general. Though preceded by other biologicals, which target specific molecular pathways or mediators, are
international fora and, most notably, those organized by Dr Georges now playing an ever-increasing role in the management of hepatitis,
Brohee, the WGO traces its origins to the first world congress organized inflammatory bowel disease, and digestive cancer). Fifty years ago the
in Washington, DC on May 29, 2008 by Dr Henry Bockus. Initially known idea that peptic ulcer disease, gastric cancer, and gastric lymphoma might
by its French name, l’Organisation Mondiale de Gastroenterologie have an infectious cause would have been laughed at; now, the discovery
(OMGE), the WGO was formally incorporated in the US and developed
the basic organizational structure that survives to this day. Thus, the
WGO/OMGE is, and always has been, an organization of organizations;
…the advent of the molecular era has
its members are the national societies of gastroenterology and its
activities are developed and enacted in collaboration with them. The past
provided the gastroenterologist with a
50 years have witnessed a tremendous growth in the number of national
completely new approach to diagnosis
gastroenterology societies, and the WGO now includes 103 societies
within its fold.
and therapy…
In parallel with these organizational developments, the field of
gastroenterology itself has witnessed tremendous progress. Who could of Helicobacter pylori and its role in these disorders has won a Nobel Prize.
have envisaged the developments that have thoroughly revolutionized this Advances in immunosuppression, surgery, and intensive care allow
field of medicine over this half-century? Endoscopy, an investigational tool patients with end-stage liver disease to receive transplants and to expect
that is now indispensable to gastroenterology practice, has emerged from to enjoy not only long-term survival, but also an excellent quality of life.
a largely forgotten era of rigid or semi-flexible instruments to a time when Progress with the most challenging of organ transplantation procedures,
fully flexible video-endoscopes and capsule endoscopy have become the small intestinal transplantation, continues.
norm and the ability to access any part of the digestive tract is expected.
Modern endoscopes, coupled with an array of accessories, can provide a There have been many, many more advances over these 50 years and
wealth of diagnostic information and now present an ever-expanding many more will come; some may re-define the boundaries of this
array of therapeutic possibilities; procedures that a short time ago were specialty, while others may diminish or augment the primacy of certain
possible only through an open surgical approach are now being areas within it. Suffice it to say that the gastroenterologist of the future
contemplated via natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgical (NOTES) must have a sound grounding in medical science and must be equipped
approaches. Meanwhile, the advent of the molecular era has provided the to cope, and indeed embrace, the changes that will inevitably come.
gastroenterologist with a completely new approach to diagnosis (the Herein lies one of the major challenges that face gastroenterology today:
ensuring that our future practitioners are appropriately trained to cope
with a complex and ever-changing medical environment, yet one that
Eamonn MM Quigley, MD, is President of the World
must retain the patient and his or her illness at the center of our universe.
Gastroenterology Organisation (WGO) and Vice President of
the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG). He is also a
It must be stressed that these advances have not been evenly bestowed
Professor of Medicine and Human Physiology and a principal
investigator at the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre at the
on the world’s population; some areas of our planet have barely felt the
National University of Ireland in Cork. Dr Quigley has
impact of advances in diagnostics and therapeutics and still struggle with
published more than 400 articles, including original
the ravages of malnutrition and infectious disease, and many of their
manuscripts, editorials, review articles, book chapters, and
case reports, and is interested and involved in education in
children simply do not live long enough to develop the chronic diseases
the area of gastroenterology.
that so preoccupy us in the West. Furthermore, even as these countries
E:
quigley@ucc.ie
develop they face a further impending disaster: as their health
professionals leave their home countries in droves to seek better lives
14 © TOUCH BRIEFINGS 2008
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