AUSTRIAN MEDICAL SOCIETY FOR INCONTINENCE HELP (MEDIZINISCHE GESELLSCHAFT FUR INKONTINENZHILFE OSTERREICH)

There are currently 321 members, including 176 doctors, 76 nurses, 20 physiotherapists, 33 other professionals (such as pharmacists) and 16 incontinent people.

The Board have met 5 times and the circle of supporters 4 times in order to co-ordinate activities. There are three Agencies, in Innsbruck (Headquarters), in Vienna and in Linz. Altogether there have been 1258 consultations in the past year, by phone, letter and personal visit. Three pelvic floor training courses for prophylaxis and treatment were organised and our 8th annual meeting (in Bregenz in October 1998) had 205 participants.

Our newsletter is produced twice each year to inform our members about the society's activities and to update knowledge on urinary and faecal incontinence with articles and references. We also contribute to the German GIH newsletter. The second postgraduate course for nurses to qualify as a Continence and Stoma Adviser was completed by 13 nurses in October 1998. The third course is scheduled for October 1999.

One of the aims of the Society is to make incontinent people aware that help is possible and to get professionals interested in this field. Therefore a "Continence Awareness Day" is planned for September 9th 1999. This will be called "Aktionstag: Gesunde Blase". This event is supported by the media, the press and the public health institutions. We will invite incontinent people and their families into the Kursalon Hubner, Vienna on 9th September to inform them about diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of incontinence. Moreover, the audience will have the opportunity to contact specialised doctors, nurses and physiotherapists and to visit a technical exhibition. This event will be preceded by a seminar on incontinence for doctors on the day before in the same location.

The 9th annual meeting of our society will be held in Vienna on November 19th & 20th 1999. The main topic will be "Incontinence in the elderly". A special seminar will deal with enuresis.

Professor H Madersbacher, Chairman