On behalf of the Organising Committee, it is my privilege to invite all who are interested in or who work in pediatric and adolescent gynecology, whether in Europe, or elsewhere around the world, to take part this spring in the Tenth European Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (PAG) Congress in Budapest, Hungary.  It will be the third occasion for our capital city to receive participants, visitors, guests, and our interested colleagues as we discuss the latest happenings and clinical results in our interdisciplinary field.

Hungary hosted the Second European PAG Congress in 1985 and also the Sixth European PAG Congress in 1993 at the Hilton Hotel on Castle Hill in Budapest.  With this third occasion for the PAG Congress to convene in Hungary, we celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the establishment of the Hungarian Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecological Section.  In 1976, the first pioneers made it possible to develop pediatric gynecology as a new specialization, accepted by the Hungarian Postgraduate Council in 1978.  Physicians who were formerly gynecologists or pediatricians completed three years of preparatory work and then took final examinations in order to be recognized officially as specialists.  In 1981 the Postgraduate Medical University opened its Pediatric Gynecological Ward, making it possible for those preparing for these exams to acquire the requisite knowledge and practical experience.  Hungary is rich in specialists who prepared and qualified in this manner; 94 pediatric gynecologists have been working in the country in recent years, representing the work of providing girls with health care and curative treatment.  Recognizing the success of our program in Hungary, Professor George Creatsas, past president of FIGIJ, established in 1996 the International Fellowship of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (IFEPAG).  This fellowship is an internationally recognized academic preparation to develop research in this new branch of medicine for all physicians who are deeply interested in working with girls under the age of eighteen.  The IFEPAG specialist exam provides unique possibilities for physicians from around the world who started from other specializations to acquire proficiency in current practice in diagnosis and therapy.  The quick success of participation in IFEPAG demonstrates the timeliness of this preparative work.  At present there are 117 physicians throughout the world who represent our specialization in the center of scientific interest, having successfully completed this internationally recognized IFEPAG exam 

The focus of the Tenth European Congress will be ''Violent and Aggressive Youth in the Twenty-First Century''.  On the basis of preliminary surveys in the Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecological Section, we will discuss the dramatic changes observed among young girls who are choosing a high-risk lifestyle, including sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the medical effects of body piercing and cosmetic plastic surgery.  Our principal topics are: 

I. Hyperandrogynism from conception to adolescence. 
II. Obesity with all late consequences and complications in youth. 
III. Sexual problems and contraceptive options in disabled girls. 

We look forward to seeing the participants in the Congress, so that together we can celebrate the 30th anniversary of our Hungarian Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecological Section and the 25th year of operation of the Pediatric Gynecological Ward in Hungary. 

The e-mail address for the Congress is newinst@hu.inter.net (which will be operative until May 2006). 

Hoping to meet you once again on Castle Hill in Budapest.

Cordially yours, 

Judit Örley, M. D.C.Sc.
Congress President