Dear friends,

When you read this, we will be back from the World Congress in Paediatric Cardiology and Paediatric Cardiac Surgery in Cape Town that starts within 2 weeks. We are convinced that we will return with memories of an exciting meeting with a scientific programme of top quality, as well as good time spent with old and new friends. The programme in Cape Town consists of plenary sessions and six different tracks: Surgery and Intensive Care; Catheter Interventions; Health Systems and Heart Disease; Adults with Congenital Heart Disease and Prevention of Acquired Heart Disease; Cardiology and the Imaging Revolution and Basic Science; and Nursing. The Association for European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology is arranging two separate sessions and we hope that we will meet many Association for European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology members there. A dinner symposium “Controversies in Paediatric Cardiology and Paediatric Cardiac Surgery” will be held on Tuesday evening. On Thursday morning, a breakfast symposium on “Living with adult congenital heart disease” will be held in collaboration with the Japanese Society of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery.

The Association for European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology Annual meeting will be held at the Hilton London Metropole Hotel between May 22 and 25 with the update course arranged by the Working Groups for Imaging and Surgery. Similar to previous years, the meeting is arranged together with the Japanese Society for Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery. Two finalists in the Young Investigators Award will be offered participation in the Japanese Annual Meeting in Tokyo between July 11 and 13 with expenses covered. Another joint session will be held together with the Congenital Domaine of European Association of Cardio Thoracic Surgery. The business meeting will be held on Thursday morning and we hope that the earlier time slot allocated for this important event will increase the number of members attending the meeting. During the Business Meeting, we will decide which countries will host the Annual Meetings in 2016 and 2017. Bids for hosting these meetings are very welcome and may be sent to the Secretary General. The council is working on some amendments to the constitution, mainly concerning the procedures for voting and for application for membership. The new version with the proposed changes will be sent to all members by mail 1 month before the meeting. On behalf of the council and the organising committee, we welcome you to London in May.

The need for an Association for European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology-based network for questions regarding Cardiovascular Drugs in Children was discussed during the Business Meeting in Istanbul 2012. A nucleus group consisting of Joerg Stein and Sylvie di Filippo from the Association for European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology council together with Michael Burch, Christoph Male, and Gylfi Oskarsson has been formed and the group has had its first meeting.

The training recommendations for basic training in Paediatric Cardiology have been updated and will be published on the Association for European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology web.

Finally, and as usual, please do not hesitate to contact the council, especially the Secretary General, with any questions related to Association for European Paediatric and Congenital Cardiology activities, payments, and membership or any other matters.

Katarina Hanséus Shak Qureshi

Secretary General President