World Federation of Associations of Pediatric Surgeons

Abbreviation| WOFAPS
Formation| 15 October 1974; 51 years ago (1974-10-15)
Founded at| São Paulo, Brazil
Headquarters| Bern, Switzerland
Subsidiaries| WOFAPS Foundation
Website| www.wofaps.org

World Federation of Associations of Pediatric Surgeons (WOFAPS) is an organisation established on 15 October 1974 in Brazil[1] to promote the ethical study of pediatric research and to promote Pediatric Surgery as a distinct specialty of general surgery. The Kyoto Declaration of Pediatric Surgery, written in 2001, established the mission of the Federation to focus on the development and education of surgeons serving children, in all parts of the world.[2]

## Contents

* 1 History
* 1.1 Jose Boix Ochoa
* 1.2 World Pediatric Surgery Day
* 2 WOFAPS presidents
* 3 WOFAPS meetings
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links

## History

Several surgeons and associations supported the endorsement of the proposal for the "International Union of Pediatric Surgeons" proposed by Denys Pellerin in Paris in 1963. But the progress was slow. On 15 October 1974, WOFAPS was founded in São Paulo, Brazil, during a Pediatric Surgery Congress with representatives from 43 Countries under the Presidency of Prof. Virgilio Carvalho Pinto and Secretary General Prof. Jose Pinus. Harvey Beardmore from Canada was elected the first President of the WOFAPS.[3] while Prof Jose "Pepe" Boix Ochoa was again re-elected as General Secretary (a post he would hold for 35 years!!).

Until 1983, only 23 associations belonged to the WOFAPS, but the organization has grown to include over 100 member countries today. It is recognized and participates in International Associations of Pediatric Surgery as a member as well as the International Pediatric Association, as well as other organizations such as UNICEF, UNESCO and WHO. This has been due to the past leadership and efforts of the members.[4] Notable associations that have joined the WOFAPS include American Pediatric Surgical Association, EUPSA, the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendchirurgie, as well as more geographically distributed associations, for example the Pan-African Paediatric Surgical Association.

The WOFAPS is a representation of Pediatric Surgical Associations and it does not represent any political ideas nor does it make any racial or religious distinction. The WOFAPS is governed by its Constitution and its official office is in Bern, Switzerland.[5]

The WOFAPS Foundation is a subsidiary of WOFAPS that offers Scholarships to International Young Pediatric Surgeons[6] from developing countries who have demonstrated strong interests in teaching and research. The WOFAPS foundation was headed by Prof. Prem Puri, previous president of WOFAPS and Lifetime Achievement Award recipient in 2013[7][8]. Now the foundation is headed by Prof. Sameh Shehata, past president of WOFAPS.

### Jose Boix Ochoa

The WOFAPS 2025 in Antalya, Turkey inaugurated the first Jose Boix Ochoa Medal, which was awarded to Prof. Prem Puri for his extensive research in Pediatric Surgery.

### World Pediatric Surgery Day

The World Pediatric Surgery (WPS) Day was established on April 7th by the WOFAPS and celebrated annually.[9][10]

## WOFAPS presidents

* Harvey E. Beardmore (Canada) 1975–1977
* Denys Pellerin France) 1978–1980
* R.K. Gandhi (India) 1981–1983
* M. Bettex (Switzerland) 1984–1986
* Jose Ricardo Piñeiro (Argentina) 1987–1989
* K. Ashcraft (U.S.A.) 1990–1992
* W.A. Maier (Germany) 1993–1995
* Sid Cywes (South Africa) 1996–1998[11]
* Jay Lazar Grosfeld (USA) 1999–2001[12]
* T. Miyano (Japan) 2002–2004
* Arnold G. Coran (USA) 2005–2007
* Prem Puri (Ireland) 2008–2010
* Richard Azizkhan (USA) 2011–2013
* Devendra Gupta (India) 2014–2016
* David Sigalet (Canada) 2016–2019[13]
* Sameh Shehata (Egypt) 2019–2022[14]
* Alp Numanoglu (South Africa) 2022–2025
* Udo Rolle (Germany) 2026-2029

The board is currently led by Prof Alp Numanoglu (South Africa) acting as president, Prof Shilpa Sharma (India) as general secretary and Prof Udo Rolle (Germany) is the president elect for the current term (2022-2025). The WOFAPS executive board consists of 15 Pediatric Surgeons voting members representing all continents and one non voting member as Prof Mahmoud Elfiky (Egypt).

## WOFAPS meetings

WOFAPS Executive Board in 2019–2022 at WOFAPS 7th Congress in Prague, Czech Republic

The WOFAPS World Congress is held every three years. However, the WOFAPS joins a regional meeting with another pediatric surgical association every year.

* 2004: Zagreb, Croatia
* 2007: Buenos Aires, Argentina
* 2010: Delhi, India
* 2013: Berlin, Germany[15]
* 2016: Washington, D.C., United States[16]
* 2019: Doha, Qatar[17]
* 2022: Prague, Czech Republic[18]
* 2025: Antalya, Turkey[19]
* 2028: Bangkok, Thailand

## See also

* American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA)
* British Association of Paediatric Surgeons (BAPS)
* Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kinder- und Jugendchirurgie (DGKCH)
* International Pediatric Endosurgery Group (IPEG)
* Pan-African Paediatric Surgical Association (PAPSA)

## References

1. ↑ Coran, Arnold G.; Caldamone, Anthony; Adzick, N. Scott; Krummel, Thomas M.; Laberge, Jean-Martin; Shamberger, Robert (25 January 2012). Pediatric Surgery E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-323-09161-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=QpabASTwF_sC&pg=PA17.
2. ↑ Grosfeld, Jay L. (December 2001). "Declaration of pediatric surgery". Journal of Pediatric Surgery 36 (12): 1743. doi:10.1053/jpsu.2001.28811. PMID 11733896. https://www.jpedsurg.org/article/S0022-3468(01)66060-3/fulltext.
3. ↑ Boix-Ochoa, Jose; Sigalet, David (April 2020). "History of WOFAPS (1963–2019)". Pediatric Surgery International 36 (5): 541–550. doi:10.1007/s00383-020-04651-x. PMID 32266466.
4. ↑ A History of Surgical Paediatrics. World Scientific. 2009. p. 635-648. ISBN 978-9812772268. https://books.google.com/books?id=ayRpDQAAQBAJ.
5. ↑ "About WOFAPS". WOFAPS. https://www.wofaps.org/about/.
6. ↑ "Fellowships and funding". Global Initiative for Children's Surgery:GICS Website. https://www.globalchildrenssurgery.org/fellowships-funding-for-surgeons-in-resource-poor-areas/.
7. ↑ "Lifetime achievement award for Prof Prem Puri". Irish Medical Times. https://www.imt.ie/news/lifetime-achievement-award-prof-prem-puri-09-01-2015/.
8. ↑ "Lifetime Achievements Awards List". WOFAPS. https://www.wofaps.org/lifetime-achievements-awards-list/.
9. ↑ Sharma, Shilpa; Numanoglu, Alp; Rolle, Udo; Zanotti, Amadeo; Shehata, Sameh; Ochoa, Jose Boix; Cox, Sharon; Pacheco, Hector et al. (2025-06-02). "World Pediatric Surgery Day on 7th April: a global advocacy initiative by World Federation of Associations of Pediatric Surgeons (WOFAPS)" (in en). Pediatric Surgery International 41 (1): 157. doi:10.1007/s00383-025-06058-y. ISSN 1437-9813. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00383-025-06058-y.
10. ↑ Saleem, Muhammad (2024-01-02). "Celebrating “7th April- World Pediatric Surgery Day” Across the world: Role of APSP in Pakistan". Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Surgery 2. https://nja.pastic.gov.pk/JPEDAS/index.php/JPEDAS/article/view/171.
11. ↑ "Obituary: Professor Sidney Cywes". Royal College of Surgeons. https://www.baps.org.uk/news/obituary/obituary-professor-sidney-cywes/.
12. ↑ "Jay L Grosfeld Obituary". Royal College of Surgeons. https://www.baps.org.uk/news/obituary/jay-l-grosfeld-obituary/.
13. ↑ "Over 800 surgeons attend world pediatric congress in Doha". The Peninsula Qatar News Website. https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/02/11/2019/Over-800-surgeons-attend-world-pediatric-congress-in-Doha.
14. ↑ "Alexandria University honors Dr. Sameh Shehata for assuming the presidency of the International Federation of Pediatric Surgery". Shorouk News. https://www.shorouknews.com/news/view.aspx?cdate=28112019&id=a54e1976-88d1-4c71-a278-c9d017cc9059.
15. ↑ "DGKCH: Überleben trotz Metastasen – Kinder mit Krebs nur in Spezialzentren behandeln". Informationsdienst Wissenschaft e. V. https://idw-online.de/de/news552733.
16. ↑ "The Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation Hosts the First North American World Congress of the World Federation of Associations of Pediatric Surgeons". Children's National Hospital Website. https://childrensnational.org/news-and-events/childrens-newsroom/2016/the-sheikh-zayed-institute-hosts-the-first-north-american-wofaps.
17. ↑ "Sidra hails successful conclusion of paediatric world congress in Doha". Gulf Times. https://www.gulf-times.com/story/646540/Sidra-hails-successful-conclusion-of-paediatric-world-congress-in-Doha.
18. ↑ "WOFAPS 2022". České pediatricko - chirurgické společnosti. https://www.detskachirurgie.cz/cz/kongresy-seminare/nadchazejici-akce/wofaps.html.
19. ↑ "WOFAPS 2025". WOFAPS. https://www.wofaps.org/events/8th-world-congress-of-pediatric-surgery/.

## External links

* Official website

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