Ze zjazdów
4th Annual Ethiopian Dermatology and Venereology Society Conference
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, July 2016

This fourth annual meeting of the Ethiopian Dermatology and Venereology Society (EDVS) was a huge success (Figures 1–3). It was themed “Improved availability of dermatologic medicines improves the quality of dermatologic care”, and hosted by EDVS President Prof. Dr. Dagnachew Shibeshi and Acting Secretary Dr. Tizita Yosef in the capital of the great and unique nation of Ethiopia, renowned for its own language, alphabet, food, and culture. Its capital, Addis Ababa, Africa’s diplomatic capital and highest in altitude, served as the host city. This International Society of Dermatology (ISD)-sponsored regional meeting linked President Shibeshi with two of the four visiting professors, Katarzyna Wozniak and Cezary Kowalewski, as all three trained at the Medical University of Warsaw. Profs. Shibeshi and Kowalewski worked there together and recalled warmly their experiences in the clinic and in Warsaw in the 1980s. EDVS President Dagnachew Shibeshi also greeted two eminent dermatologists from neighboring Sudan, Omer Ali Kombali and Mamoun Osman (Figures 2, 3).
This congress began with welcoming remarks by Acting EDVS Secretary Tizita Yosef, the presidential address by Dagnachew Shibeshi and an opening pronouncement by Eshetu Kebede, MD, MPH, Head, Office of the State Minister, Federal Ministry of Health, Ethiopia, and representative of the Minister of Health Kesetebirhan Admasu. ISD Directors Jacek C. Szepietowski and Robert A. Schwartz also expressed their appreciation to the EDVS and its leadership for this ISD-sponsored event, encouraged new ISD membership, and awarded five scholarships based on their performance in their residency program (Figure 4).
There were many enlightening lectures. Fuad Teman linked the availability of dermatology medications and the quality of dermatologic care. Wolderufael Alemayehu moderated a panel discussion on health insurance. EDVS President Dagnachew Shibeshi stressed rational use of topical steroids. Jacek C. Szepietowski highlighted itch in common dermatoses. Temam Kedir covered the Gorlin syndrome. Robert A. Schwartz emphasized the dermatologic contributions of Polish pathology professor Maria Dąbska, the only woman for whom a cancer is named. Bezawit Seneshaw delineated bacillary angiomatosis. Katarzyna Wozniak advocated clobetasol propionate 0.05% cream on the entire body as first-line monotherapy for bullous pemphigoid. Cezary Kowalewski evinced novel therapies for epidermolysis bullosa. Elias Mulatu discussed lichen planus, first evident as an erythroderma. Workalemahu Alemu associated multiple piloleiomyomas with renal cancer in the Reed syndrome.
EDVS President Dagnachew Shibeshi and Acting Secretary Tizita Yosef received accolades for their superb efforts. Amel Beshir was congratulated upon her election as the new EDVS President (Figure 5). The EDVS also sponsored a full day of continuing professional development lectures and multiple other days of lectures for the dermatology residency and faculty provided by the visiting professors both before and after the conference. The peerless nation of Ethiopia was appreciated, with Annisa Befekadu as head of dermatology and hospital chief operating officer showing visiting dermatologists Robert A. Schwartz and Jacek C. Szepietowski around the University of Gondar College of Medicine and Health Sciences and its hospital and clinics (Figure 6). These guests admired the extraordinary beauty and grandeur of Ethiopia, including Bahir Dar with its nearby Blue Nile Waterfalls, Lalibela with its extraordinary churches, including the 12th Century Church of St. George, one of eleven monolithic churches in Lalibela, carved entirely from a special type of limestone (Figure 7), and Gondar with its incredible palaces and castles, especially Fasilides Castle, constructed by Emperor Fasilides in the mid-1600s (Figure 8).

Prof. Robert A. Schwartz MD, MPH, DSc (Hon)
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School
Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration
Newark, New Jersey

Prof. Jacek C. Szepietowski MD, PhD
Medical University of Wrocław
Wrocław, Poland