The Hague to host the 20th Anniversary World Sterilization Congress

The city of The Hague is selected as a host of the 20th World Sterilization Congress that will take place on 30 October - 2 November 2019. Organised by the World Federation for Hospital Sterilization Sciences (WFHSS), the congress will welcome over 1200 delegates at World Forum The Hague, an award-winning venue with state-of-the-art facilities. Earlier this week, member organisations of the WFHSS who took part in the 2017 edition of the conference in Bonn chose the Netherlands as the next destination. The 20th Anniversary World Sterilization Congress will take place in The Hague with 26 out of 31 votes cast in its favour.

Organising committee

According to Jeroen de Geus, Expert Sterile Medical Devices at UMC Utrecht and member of the WFHSS 2019 organising committee: "We are extremely proud that we are given the opportunity to organise this congress. The Netherlands is one of the leading countries in the field of sterilisation of medical devices and we are very eager to share our knowledge with the rest of the world." The World Federation for Hospital Sterilization Sciences unites various national associations working to advance the science and practice of sterilisation of medical devices for the safety of the patients. Among these are the two Dutch associations, SVN (Sterilization Association Netherlands) and vDSMH (Association of Experts of Sterile Medical Devices) who will jointly host the 2019 edition of the congress.

Anniversaries

Both organisations will celebrate their own anniversaries in 2019. SVN has a 50-year record of accomplishment in sharing knowledge and connecting people in the field of sterilisation, while vDSMH has been working in the same area for 20 years, and is ambitious to remain in the forefront of this important field. “We truly appreciated the opportunity to support the hosting associations in their bid to bring the WFHSS congress to The Hague, and we are honoured to have the opportunity to welcome the delegates of this congress in our city in 2019,” commented Nienke van der Malen, the director of The Hague Convention Bureau.

Congress by design

The logistics behind the organisation The World Sterilization Congress will be entrusted to Congress by design, a PCO with a long track record of organising congresses in The Hague. “The Hague is very well equipped to host the WFHSS congress: the city’s expert event infrastructure will ensure outstanding quality for this anniversary edition of the congress. Similarly, The Hague is an attractive and beautiful city, and the delegates will certainly have a memorable stay,” said deputy mayor of The Hague Karsten Klein.