Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of the organizing committee, I am delighted to invite you to the 16th World Intensive and Critical Care Congress (WICC), which will take place on August 26-30, 2023, in Istanbul.
The aging population, high-risk therapies, disasters, accidents, wars, terrorism attacks, immigration, and pandemics all significantly burden the capacity of intensive care medicine. So far, the intensive care community in the economically advanced countries has acquired enormous expertise in caring for all kinds of critically-ill patients. However, intensive care resources still need to be improved in many parts of the World. Our mission should be to broaden our scope to consider all of the World’s critically ill patients and intensive care professionals to bridge the gap for a better future in intensive care medicine.
The COVID-19 pandemic has recently been a big challenge for humankind and the global intensive care community. The pandemic emphasized the fact that multi-professional dedicated human resource is the most crucial factor in the practice of intensive care medicine. After a four-year break in the World Intensive and Critical Care Congresses, full of hard work and emotional burden, now it is time for intensive care professionals from around the globe to come together to share knowledge and experience. In bridging the continents, Istanbul will contribute to this mission of bridging the gap by hosting the 16th World Intensive and Critical Care Congress in 2023.
“Istanbul, Aug 26-30, 2023” is very special for the World and for Turkiye.
Istanbul has a unique meaning in the history of intensive care medicine. Florence Nightingale, one of the founders of intensive care medicine, known as “the lady with the lamp,” spent two years in Istanbul during the Crimean War in the 1850s to organize a nursing unit in the Selimiye Military Barracks to care for the wounded soldiers from the Crimean battlefront. She was able to reduce the mortality rate by more than 20 times.
27th of August is accepted as the birthday of Intensive Care Medicine, as Bjorn Ibsen performed the first tracheostomy and manual positive pressure ventilation in 1952 to save the life of a young quadriplegic girl in severe respiratory failure suffering from acute poliomyelitis. This new method was estimated to have saved 100 lives within the first three months of the pandemic.
2023 is a festive year for Turkey, as it is the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic. In fact, Aug 30 is the Turkish Victory Date.
Therefore, we are very excited and motivated to perform a high-quality congress, both scientifically and socially, featuring gender, age, profession, and national diversity.
Intensive care saves lives! As Global Intensivists, let us celebrate the birthdates of Intensive Care Medicine and Turkiye together in Istanbul on 26-30 August 2023.
We are looking forward to meeting you and hope your stay to be valuable and meaningful.
Prof. Dr. Arzu Topeli, MD, MSc
Congress Chair