ITALIAN CUTANEOUS ULCER ASSOCIATION

The last year has seen the formation of a new wound healing society in Italy. The Associazione Italiana Ulcere Cutanee (AIUC: Italian Cutaneous Ulcer Association) was formed to affront didactical and health-care themes in Italian wound care, with the objective of promoting initiatives regarding tissue repair and to group together the interest of healthcare staff that work in wound care.
Cutaneous ulcers in Italy are a problem that affect around 1.5% of the population, a percentage that is rising. A healthcare team made up of geriatricians, dermatologists, vascular surgeons, diabetologist and specialised nursing staff carries out treatment of these patients. The association has assumed a multidisciplinary identity right from its conception in order to represent as widely as possible the various medical specialities involved in the management of skin ulcer patients.

The first annual AIUC conference was held last November in Rome, at the Istituto Dermopatico dell' Immaco-lata (I.D.I.), a dermatology hospital in the centre of Rome, which carries out a large amount of day clinic and in-patient treatments. During the conference the Executive Committee, assembled in order to elect new representatives, determine the terms of office for Committee members and decide the dates of future conferences.
The main objectives of the association are aimed towards the improvement of the training of medical and nursing staff in the management of patients with skin ulcers, especially in the light of new etiopathogenetic concepts of the various diseases involved and the development of new therapeutic technologies.
The association also intends to extend working relationships with the main international wound care societies and thus favour cultural exchange. To further this end, Prof Christine Moffatt, President of the European Wound Management Association and Prof Keith Harding, President Elect of the European Tissue Repair Society, were invited to the first annual AIUC conference.

The next national AIUC conference will be held in Milan from the 14th to the 16th November 2001, and will be organized by Professor Piero Bonadeo.

AIUC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Prof Giovani Micali	President
Dr Luca Chinni	President Elect
Dr Giorgio Guarnera	Secretary
Dr Massimo Papi	Treasurer
Dr Clemente Potenza	Relations with Surgical Societies
Dr Elia Ricci	Relations with National Health System
Dr Marco Romanelli	Relations with Foreign Wound Healing Societies
Mr Battistino Paggi	Relations with Nursing Sanitary System
Mr Pierluigi Deriu	Relations with Professional Sanitary Development