ICD Section VIII – Australasia – News

(Australia – New Zealand – South Pacific)

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AUSTRALASIAN Section VIII – Board of Regents 2009

President’s Report – 2009

The Australasian Section, whilst it does not express the population intensity of some other sections, might however claim to represent the greatest geographical spread within the ICD. Its jurisdiction embraces the West to the East Coast of Australia, a plane journey of some five hours, to Darwin in the North and Tasmania in the South, themselves separated again by many hours of jet travel. Then further East to the North and South Islands of New Zealand, It does not stop there. The Section is responsible for Pacific Islands such as Fiji, New Guinea and Samoa.

That great land coverage brings with it special barriers in creating intimacy and integrity of the Section. I am pleased to be able to report to the College that, by the efforts of the Regents in their representation of each area within the Section, we achieve a cohesion which has enabled the Section to function effectively over its life. Fellowship, in all its admirable aspects of service and care for one another and the community is strong and dynamic within the Section. In part this is due to the activity of the Board in ensuring that meetings are regularly held in various compass points of its ‘empire’, so that Fellows, even in remote areas, have the opportunity to get together in an atmosphere of mutual respect and communication.

The East Coast of Australia is reasonably centrally situated, and so it has become customary to have a Convocation of the Section in each Presidential period in Melbourne, the capital of the state of Victoria. Similarly a Convocation is held in New Zealand in each Presidential period, coincident with the Biennial conference of the NZ Dental Association. The venue for this meeting rotates between cities of both North and South Islands, the most recent in 2008 held in the fascinating and picturesque city of Rotorua in the North Island.

The Section is ever mindful of its duty and motivation to assist areas of lesser development on our doorstep. In particular, the Dental Schools of Papua-New Guinea and Fiji exist and progress with limited resources. Although the Section provides aid to dental projects in other localities in our region and that of South East Asia, support of those two Dental Schools has become a high priority because they are essential to the development of dental services to people of high need.

Dr Braham Pearlman

President – Section VIII, Australasia