Dear Friends,

WELCOME to our 2005 Open Meeting in Aberdeen. As in previous
years, we will once again have the opportunity to share our growing
knowledge and increasing experiences with each other. Nevertheless,
the 2005 meeting does offer us additional dimensions.

This year the UK Tissue Viability Society conference precedes our meeting.
This excellent initiative will give us the chance to meet new contacts and
learn of new experiences that are very complimentary to our own. The theme
of the Tissue Viability Society meeting is centered on the same theme chosen
this year by the EPUAP: The fundamental principles and good practice
in tissue viability

We are also very fortunate to have during this Open Meeting several international
wound care organizations represented, such as the Japanese Pressure
Ulcer Panel and the US National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel
(NPUAP). Our strength in the war against pressure ulcers lies in our ability
to meet, exchange ideas and learn from each other on an international level.
It is for this reason that several EPUAP members attended the NPUAP meeting
held in Tampa in February 2005. In Tampa, we were again able to reinforce
the value of these international contacts and we returned with the conviction
that together, our forces can unite to diffuse knowledge throughout
the world.

The idea of returning to the fundamental principles is certainly a sign of
wisdom and maturity for our group. It is an opportunity to analyze and debate
the concepts that are often taken for granted under the pressure of new
technologies and new practices. Returning regularly to the fundamentals of
pressure ulcer prevention and treatment helps us to evolve as an organization
by better meeting the population’s changing needs for healthcare that
flow from the continual progress of medicine.

I sincerely hope that this congress will be a positive step towards motivating
each of us to win together the war on pressure ulcers. Let us take this
opportunity to reflect on the long road we have already traveled and the
knowledge and experiences this journey has brought us, but let us not forget
to look towards the road that lies ahead. Let us embrace this road together,
free from preconceptions of the nature of the journey, in order to reach new
levels of educational attainment and improved prevention and treatment of
pressure ulcers.

Denis Colin
President