Submission of abstracts for the upcoming sixth World Congress of Paediatric Surgery is now open and the deadline is August 15, the organisers have announced.
Taking place in the Middle East region for the first time, the congress will be held in Doha from October 30 to November 4 at the Qatar National Convention Centre. 
This edition of the triennial congress is being organised by Sidra Medicine and expected to welcome more than 1,000 surgeons from around the world. The theme for the congress is 'Collaboration, Education and Training: Moving beyond borders to improve the surgical care of children'.
“The congress will be the crowning achievement as we complete the opening of Sidra Medicine. We have prepared an exciting programme, which aims to cover both the most cutting-edge advances in paediatric surgical care as well as tackling the problem of how to deliver optimal care in resource-challenged settings,” said Dr David Sigalet, president of the World Federation of Associations of Paediatric Surgeons and chief of Clinical Operations, Sidra Medicine.
The abstracts must be submitted electronically using the official abstract submission system. The official language for abstracts is English and each abstract is assigned with an abstract number. Authors whose abstracts are accepted for presentation will be expected to attend the meeting and make their presentation. All accepted abstracts will be put on the website after the congress.
“The programme is arranged around a comprehensive discussion of the ‘classical’ problems in paediatric surgery. For each of these topics, we will explore the current state of knowledge about the pathophysiology of the disease; updates on the optimal care and any controversies, from a higher income healthcare perspective; updates and the optimal care in a resource-constrained environment; and dealing with the complications of our surgical care,” explained Dr Sigalet.
WOFAPS is dedicated to improving the surgical care of children around the world. The congress is held every three years to give surgeons from high-income and low-resource countries an opportunity to exchange information, best practices, surgical experiences and current challenges influencing the access to safe and effective surgical care in their communities.
Started in 2004, the previous editions of the congress were held in Washington DC, Berlin, Delhi, Buenos Aires and Zagreb. 
Sidra Medicine will be serving as a host for the first-ever World Congress in the Middle East. The event promises to attract paediatric surgeons from around the region, interested in learning about international paediatric cases as well as supporting surgeons from around the world to experience the paediatric innovations that have occurred around the globe.
The scientific programme of the congress will focus on a variety of surgical specialties and will provide an opportunity for surgeons from South Asia, Africa, China and South East Asia to network with their colleagues from the Middle East.
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