SepsEast

In 2012 we initiated a concept that we called SepsEast, in order to bring Eastern European opinion leaders and Western European experts together on a conference in Budapest. The idea was welcomed by several European societies including the German Sepsis Society, and we decided to alternate our conferences biannually. The next Seps­East conference will be in Budapest 17-20 September 2014. This article is a short summary about the background and the goals of SepsEast.

Over the last 30 years intensive care medicine has become a fast advancing medical speciality all around the world and its impact in medicine in general is plausible. Critical care journals have high impact factors and scientific publications from the field appear regularly in the high­est ranking medical journals. Emergency and critical care has become the core element of the hospital structure and it is also becoming more popular among medical students and getting publicity like never before. It seems like an absolute success story, but mainly in the “West”.

History – what we share in Eastern Europe

In countries behind the former Iron Curtain, with a population almost as much as in Western Europe, intensivists are still struggling to gain similar ac­knowledgement and prestige from the public, the governments and other specialities. Fortunately over the last few years things have definitely improved, but there is still a long way to go.