A MESSAGE FROM THE ESCRS PRESIDENT
22 March 2020
Dear Colleagues It is my home country, the Netherlands, where we shine a spotlight today. In Maastricht (my home) we have cancelled all elective surgery and some colleagues are preparing to take place in other departments of medicine when/if the need arises. I have shared with you a number of protocols we have developed to guide our activities over the coming days. These are available here in Dutch and English tomorrow. Our synopsis in this issue is taken from an article by Christian Hoebe, head of
infection prevention at the Dutch National Public Health Institutes (GGD) of South Limburg and member of the Outbreak Management Team of the Dutch government, who sets out the Dutch position on dealing with the COVID 19 threat. It is not for the ESCRS to enter into the great debate among political decision makers and medical experts on the optimum means of dealing with this crisis. Nor to pass comment on the many bloggers and influencers active on Social Media. It will be sometime after we are through this pandemic that the advantages and disadvantages of all the various strategies will become clear. This health care crisis calls for leadership and decision taking amidst an environment where management of uncertainty probably is the most difficult part. It is our plan and the purpose of this
newsletter to communicate the views of the people who are involved in the management of this crisis in each particular country and to share the experiences of our colleagues who are in the front lines of this battle. We have all known for a long time that EU member states are not harmonised in their healthcare policies. Hopefully this crisis will provoke a paradigm shift for the future and lead to the level of solidarity and cooperation that we now already see on a microlevel in our hospitals. Please stay safe and well.
Prof. dr Rudy MMA Nuijts
ESCRS President
PROFESSIONAL SOLDIDARITY IN THE NETHERLANDS
Nic Reus MD, PhD, an ophthalmologist at the Amphia Hospital in Breda, The Netherlands, spoke with EuroTimes contributing editor Dermot McGrath on the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in The Netherlands. “Professional solidarity is very important at times of crisis like these. We are all in this together and I have been impressed by the level of dedication of my Dutch colleagues who are working together to tackle this epidemic and save as many lives as possible,” said Dr Reus.
DUTCH OPHTHALMOLOGISTS PLANNING FOR LIFE AFTER CORONAVIRUS
Planning now for the return to normal practice after the coronavirus pandemic eases is just as important as plans to deal with the virus in the coming weeks, according to the head of the University Eye Clinic Maastricht in The Netherlands. Carroll Webers MD, PhD, has seen how his clinic and academic department normally works change completely in under a week due to the rapid spread of COVID-19 across Europe, and learning about the impact on medical services in Italy and Spain in particular.
DUTCH ARE TAKING A BROADER VIEW
“I usually don’t work this hard, but these days it’s different,” said Christian Hoebe, head of infection prevention at the Dutch National Public Health Institutes (GGD) of South Limburg, The Netherlands. “This is the worst health crisis since the outbreak of the Spanish Flu in 1919,” he said, in an interview with The Limburger, a Dutch newspaper.
STRIPPED-BACK CARE IN DUTCH OPHTHALMOLOGY
BJ Klevering MD, PhD, told EuroTimes how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting ophthalmology in The Netherlands and shared his thoughts about the future. Dr Klevering is Chairman, Dutch Ophthalmic Society (NOG), and Professor and Chairman, Department of Ophthalmology, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. “We are all working shoulder to shoulder at the moment and feel that we are part of the same team. In that regard, the coronavirus crisis has brought us some good,” he said
EU COUNTRIES HAVE DIFFERENT CORONAVIRUS POLICIES
Every country wants to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, but the way in which this is done in different EU countries differs. It could also be argued that there is need for greater cohesion among EU countries to come up with a more coherent and consistent policy that applies to all member states. But is this possible?
CORNEAL PROCUREMENT CONTINUES BUT AT GREATLY REDUCED RATE IN THE NETHERLANDS
The procurement of corneal tissues for keratoplasty is continuing in the Netherlands on a limited basis, but uncertainties remain as to whether enough corneas and hospital space will be available for even the most urgent cases in the coming weeks and months, said Robin van Eechoud, a staff member of The Dutch National Transplant service, a government organisation responsible for organ and tissue post-mortem donor screening and allocation to patients who are waiting for a transplant.
EU TACKLES MEDICINE SUPPLY
An EU Executive Steering Group on shortages of medicines caused by major events has been set up to provide strategic leadership for urgent and coordinated action within the EU in case of a crisis caused by major events. The group has already discussed measures aimed at addressing the impact of the outbreak of COVID-19 on the supply of medicines in the EU.
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