Chairmans report 2022/2023

NSCMID chairman's report 2022/2023

Annual meeting 2022

The 38th Annual Meeting of NSCMID was held in Aalborg, Denmark, from September 1st to 4th, 2022. In early 2022, decision was made to organize the meeting also on-line due to uncertainties related to COVID-19 situation and possible restrictions. The congress took place at Aalborg Kongres & Kultur Center, attracting a total of 200 on-site and 25 online participants. The meeting was chaired by Board member, Associate Professor Hans Linde Nielsen.

The event covered a diverse range of topics featuring numerous international and Nordic speakers. Sessions encompassed various subjects such as Antimicrobials: breakpoints, dosing and administration, global and societal aspects of COVID-19, CNS infections, tuberculosis, hospital acquired Infections and infective endocarditis. The meeting introduced its first parallel sessions: 'Perspectives on Collaborative Clinical Trials in the Nordic Countries - Plenary Discussion', and 'Bacterial Systematics', tailored primarily for Infectious Disease and Clinical Microbiology physicians, respectively. Honorary lecture titled "Four Decades with HIV" was held by Professor Jan Gerstoft.

The welcoming reception took place at Kunsten, Aalborg's museum of modern art, an architectural marvel designed by the renowned Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, in collaboration with Elissa Aalto and Jean-Jacques Baruel. The social agenda encompassed a cultural exploration of Aalborg City and a memorable football match between Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disease teams. The latter secured a 3-2 victory, eliciting a sense of disappointment for the chief organizer, who actively participated. The grand finale was the Congress dinner, hosted at Musikkens Hus, conveniently situated near the Waterfront.

2022 NSCMID Annual General Meeting

Was held in Aalborg in 3rd Sept 2022. The board continued with the same members that had been elected previously and it was noted that Hans Linde Nielsen continued in the board nominated by the Danish national societies. Honorary treasure's report concluded that the downward trend in the equity was stopped and turned into a surplus thanks to successful Annual Meeting I Turku 2021. NordicAST chair and SSAC Foundation chairman presented their annual reports. It was also decided to keep membership dues unchanged. Upcoming meetings and other activities were discussed.

NSCMID board meeting 

The NSCMID board met in Aalborg 1st September, 2022 and 14th March 2023 in Stockholm and focused on planning the coming Annual Meetings. Some matters were decided by e-mail meetings in between the physical board meetings. Thomas Vognberg Sydenham gathered a proposal in the name of NSCMID of an educational session to the 2024 ECCMID meeting in Barcelona on "Practical implications of the EU in vitro diagnostic medical device regulation for clinical microbiology".

SSAC Foundation meeting in Stockholm 

The SSAC Foundation is a legal entity under the auspices of Svenska Läkaresallskapet where NSCMID members only can apply for grants supporting research and scientific meetings. The SSAC Foundation board had a meeting for grant decisions in Stockholm on 13th March 2023. Seven among 14 eligible applications from NSCMID members were funded with a total of 950 000 SEK. 100 000 SEK were granted to travel support for young scientists to the upcoming NSCMID meeting in brebro. 50 000 SEK was reserved for the upcoming scientific NSCMID meeting in brebro to be used if needed because of economic shortage. Alternatively, these money will be kept by the SSAC Foundation and can be distributed in 2024.

Treasurer's summary of the financial situation

NSCMID's equity declined from over 2.1 million DKK to 1.4 million in the period from 2018/19 up to the pandemic years of 2020/21. The last two years, however, the organization has had a healthy economic recovery with sizeable profits of 1.2 million in 2021/22 and 0.8 million in the last financial year of 2022/23. The recovery is mainly driven by surplus from the conferences in Turku in 2021 (0.95 mill) and Alberg in 2022 (0.97 mill). Currently, the organization's equity stands at 3.4 million DKK, the highest in a decade. This means that the organization is well situated to abide by its commitment to cover all costs in the unlikely event of a failed conference. In conclusion, NSCMID has experienced a vigorous economic recovery after a pandemic-driven decline and is now in a health economical state.

NSCMID Working groups

High level isolation working group has gathered members from eight high­ level isolation units in five Nordic countries. A meeting was held in Copenhagen June 15th 2022 and will be held in connection to the Annual Meeting in Örebro in 2023. In between the meetings exchange of experiences has been active via e-mails. The chair is Arne Broch Brantsceter.

The NordicAST had two on-line board meetings in 2022/3 and two physical meetings, the latest in connection with the 2-day workshop in May 2023. The location of the annual workshop was moved to Malmo and it was fully booked with about 180 participants. Amongst others, topics covered were susceptibility testing of yeast, challenges and approaches in novel AST methods and screening methods for carriage of multidrug resistant microorganisms. In addition, two online seminars were held: "NordicAST webinar on basic AST" in November 2022 and "What is new in the breakpoint table v13.0?" in February 2023. The chair is Barbara Holzknecht.

Nordic Paediatric Infectious Diseases Group, NORPID includes 15 members from all Nordic countries. The group has worked mainly via digital platforms and is finalizing its first major Nordic collaborative study on group B streptococcal infections. The chair is Terho Heikkinen.

Nordic tick borne disease group has not reported to the board.

Annual meeting 2023

This year's annual meeting in Örebro, Sweden Sept. 21-244, 2023 is chaired by Martin Sundqvist. A precourse on Omics for PhD students is organized together with the brebro University 20-21st Sept. 2023.
 
While turning into post pandemic time after COVID-19, I wish we could find again the usefulness and joy of the Nordic collaboration in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases across the specialties, and also have open minds for new ways cooperate.

Wishing success for NSCMID and its members in their efforts,

Professor Asko Järvinen, NSCMID chairman

September 14th, 2023