World federation of vascular societies

Message From the WFVS President

Dear Council Members and Member Societies,

This society, a unifying body that has brought together the world’s major regional vascular surgical societies, is a testament to the vision and foresight of its founders. As the 19th President of the World Federation of Vascular Societies (WFVS), I am humbled and grateful for the opportunity to serve.

The WFVS, an international organization comprising vascular surgeons from diverse global locations, is dedicated to advancing vascular knowledge through global vascular training, research, and guideline development. Our global vascular initiative encompasses both vascular training and collaborative research. These collaborations generate real-world data representative of broader populations, making the results more generalizable and relevant to a wider range of patients.

The scale of these collaborative studies allows for the efficient generation of high-quality prospective data while minimizing the commitment required for individual collaborators. The WFVS is uniquely positioned to initiate these initiatives and also facilitate those undertaken by independent researchers.

I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to Martin Veller, the inaugural Secretary General (2007-2011) and Past President of the WFVS (2013-2014), for his instrumental role in involving VASSA in the inception of this society.

The World Federation of Vascular Societies (WFVS) supports a Global Training Initiative that brings together faculty and representative trainees from various countries to offer diverse opportunities for young vascular surgeons. I would like to express my gratitude to immediate past president Prem Chand Gupta and secretary general Palma Shaw for their exceptional leadership in guiding the society’s recent projects. These projects include the WFVS collaboration with the Rouleaux Club of Great Britain and Ireland, known as the “Worrying Foot Competition,” and the WFVS Challenging Case Session, which was held during the 2024 Charing Cross Symposium in London. Additionally, the WFVS recently published Position Statements on rare or uncommon vascular diseases in the Journal of Vascular Insight. This collaborative effort involved researchers from across the globe, who shared their real-world experiences through statements that provided a comprehensive global perspective on these challenging conditions.

Furthermore, the WFVS is engaged in discussions with Peter Lawrence MD, who is partnering with the Vascular Low Frequency Disease Consortium. This collaboration aims to enhance research inputs from a broader group of researchers from member societies, further enriching the field of vascular research.

The Global Vascular Companionship (GVC), spearheaded by Dr. Iman Bayat from the Australia-New Zealand Society for Vascular Surgery (ANZSVS), seeks to pinpoint countries that lack or severely lack vascular surgery services. In collaboration with the World Federation of Vascular Societies (WFVS), GVC identifies surgeons from these regions who might be interested in pursuing vascular surgery as a career. These surgeons are then paired with mentors who are willing to provide training, with the objective of establishing vascular units in areas with limited or no vascular surgery expertise.

The WFVS organizes regular symposia with its member societies, which often occur during their annual meetings. These symposia include the annual meetings of the Society for Vascular Surgery, European Society for Vascular Surgery, Vascular Society of Southern Africa, Vascular Society of India, ANZSVS, and Asociación Latinoamericana de Cirugia Vascular y Angiologia (ALCVA). Furthermore, the WFVS participates in the Veith Symposium in New York and the Charing Cross International Symposium in London, England.

In honor of the late Roger M. Greenhalgh, a pioneering figure in vascular surgery, the World Federation of Vascular Societies (WFVS) has decided to organize a Memorial Lecture. This lecture will be held at the VAM in New Orleans in June. Professor Nobuyoshi Azuma, the president of the Japanese Society of Vascular Surgery (JSVS), will deliver this lecture, which aims to educate vascular surgeons about surgical techniques and the underlying science.

In addition to the Memorial Lecture, the Robert B. Rutherford Lecture will be presented at the Vascular Association of Southern Africa (VASSA) meeting in the Western Cape, South Africa. Professor Joseph Mills will deliver this lecture, which honors another prominent figure in the field.

Furthermore, I am deeply passionate about improving health literacy among patients and the general population. Health literacy refers to individuals’ knowledge, motivation, and competencies to access, understand, appraise, and apply health information effectively. This enables them to make informed judgments and decisions regarding healthcare, disease prevention, and health promotion, ultimately leading to better quality of life throughout their life course.

Healthier populations have a positive impact on various aspects of society. They contribute more to the labor market, are more likely to participate in pension funds, and place less burden on the healthcare system. With this being said,  major amputations remain a common vascular procedure in Africa, and access to timely and appropriate healthcare remains a significant challenge for many individuals in Africa and developing countries.

I’m currently part of a team developing a patient support platform to enhance health literacy. This platform aims to provide valuable education on various conditions, procedures, and post-operative risk stratification through automated formats on popular social channels. By doing so, we hope to empower patients and offer them essential resources before and after procedures. This initiative could potentially improve patient understanding and compliance to treatment, leading to increased patient satisfaction and reduced medicolegal risks for healthcare professionals. In collaboration with the WFVS, we plan to initiate a pilot phase of testing before embarking on a clinical study to evaluate the effectiveness of this interactive health literacy tool.

WFVS members, we have exciting times ahead. I extend my heartfelt wishes to each and every one of you as you strive to elevate this Federation of Societies to new heights. With unwavering concentration, consistent effort, and collaboration among colleagues, this Society is poised to make significant and valuable contributions to those in need.

Pradeep P. Mistry

President, WFVS