| Table of Contents - MARCH / APRIL, 2001 |
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Japan Dental Association Friday-Sunday
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| Central Office Reports |
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| Foundation News | ||||
| CALENDAR |
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| General Assembly A | Section News | |||
| ADA Reception | Section News continued | |||
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FDI World Congress
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The Pierre Fauchard Academy is an affiliate member of FDI, along with 14 other dental associations of which ADI (Academy of Dentistry International) is the only other international honor organization. We are entitled to three representatives who may speak, but have no vote. Our Philippines Chairman, Dean Diampo Lim, represented the Asian Pacific Regional Organization, sitting in the first row in front of us. Our PFA Chairman Vladimer Margvelashvili of the Georgia Republic was behind us. Our Mexico Chair, Ernesto Acuna was not only a voting delegate for Mexico, but was a candidate for the FDI Council itself. PFA Fellow Henk Schotte, Treasurer of The Netherlands, was also in attendance. PFA Chair for Slovenia, Professor Matjaz Rode, was the voting delegate for his country. And, of course, the many ADA Delegates we know, like Tim Rose and Jack Harris, were present. It was like home week for us with so many Fellows there. PFA world leadership was well represented.  Assembly A with Dr. John Hunt presiding On Monday, President Campbell and Editor Brophy toured the exhibitions and meeting areas, registered, and divided up the many meetings at which President Campbell wanted us to have representation. Dr. Campbell also battled a cold from the damp, rainy day and running from sunup to well after sunset—meeting and greeting our Fellows attending. Most were impressed that we were there and participating. And we let them know we were there. Between the two officers, they distributed 136 PFA business cards during the duration of the meetings. |
 L-R, Iowa Fellow Kathryn Kell, Netherlands PFA Treasurer Henk Schotte, and President Campbell In the center of the lower floors were huge meeting areas for the many scientific lectures that were scheduled. The half floors, being in the corners, did not connect with themselves. If you had a meeting in room 202A and another in 232B you had to go down to a complete floor and cross over hundreds of exhibits and thousands of visitors to get to the next meeting in five minutes.  Our Philippines Chair Dean Diampo Lim greeting President Campbell Every time you wished to enter the FDI areas, you needed to remove your identification card and have the ushers put it through a machine. This was to count the number attending. Some 5,000 people registered for the Congress and this process considerably slowed down entry. The escalators from floor to floor were changed from our Monday exploration so that the up and the down ones met at the same place on the same floor. To continue your journey up (or down) you had to go through the exhibits to get to the next bank of elevators to continue your journey. This was not only a fire hazard for escaping the building, but it brought the crowds from the floor above and the floor below to the same spot on the in-between floor, creating a people jam. All for the sake of driving you through the exhibits. |
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General Assembly A—Tuesday
Tuesday morning Congress A Session opened with President Campbell and Editor Brophy answering roll call for the Pierre Fauchard Academy, which commenced the six-hour long world dental business session. The agenda manual was an inch thick. They distributed the manuals in English, French, Spanish, and German.  President David Campbell preparing to answer the roll call President Campbell got the last English one. Editor Brophy had to feverishly translate his from German. So he was awake for the entire time. Earphones at each seat provided multilingual translations. Voting was done on handheld instruments that registered with a computer that displayed the results on huge screens. Korean Luncheon |
 A pair of Campbells: South Africa Dental Association Executive Director Neil Campbell and PFA President David Campbell Meeting—Wednesday President Campbell held morning court with representatives from various PFA Sections to discuss matters in their areas. Editor Brophy attended the Press Room and interviewed several FDI leaders (who then knew we were there). Visiting the FDI booth promoting next year’s Congress in Kuala Lumpur earned us an interview with FDI President-elect A. Ratnanesan of Malaysia, and an introduction to Malaysia Dental Association President Ng Kok Han. The evening hosted the Gala Opening of the World Dental Congress at an offsite sports arena—the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy. Why the opening ceremony is held halfway through the week’s events was never discovered by your Editor. But it was a grand ceremony. The Opening Ceremony for FDI was also that for the hosting French Dental Association (ADF) Meeting. FDI President Jacques Minot handled the honors along with ADF Secretaries General Patrick Hescot and Michel Chabre. The colorful roll call brought the flags of 129 countries to the stage with the 90 musicians of the Orchestre National de Paris entertaining us. Buses brought us back and forth from our hotel. Committee—Thursday We began the morning attending various committee meetings, or intending to. By this time in the weeklong Congress, the crowds had reached crushing level and travel from one side of the Palais to the other was impossible. The posted guides were red-suited, very attractive young ladies in little booths, but they spoke halting English. I spent some time trying to convince one that the meeting to be held in Room TBD meant “to be designated” and was not an actual room that she was feverishly looking for on her Palais map. She directed me to the FDI booth, who then directed me to the FDI office, all hidden away and all across the floors on different floors. Editor Brophy spent the afternoon in the hidden FDI Office interviewing wandering FDI officers. President Campbell wandered the Palais looking for meeting rooms that we swear did not exist, but he handed out PFA business cards and made contacts.  President Campbell at the FDI Affiliate Associations Meeting |
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ADA Reception at the American Embassy
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The invitation read that Kenneth Moorefield, Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs, and Dr. Robert Anderton, ADA President, requested the pleasure of our company at a reception celebrating the FDI Centenary on 13 November at 5:30 pm at the American General Consulate. This was not an easy thing to do. Getting a cab in the evening was a 45-minute wait in line and most will not take three passengers. Finding 2 rue Saint Florentin was another problem as it was across the city near the Louvre. Once we got there, the Marines needed our invitation and passport for identification. (I thought to ask them who our new President was today. But they were a no nonsense bunch.)  ADA President Robert Anderton greeting PFA President David Campbell and wife Janet at ADA Reception The American Consulate is in the light of the huge Ferris wheel that graces the end of the Champs Élysées. The palatial mansion that houses the U.S. Delegation in Paris had originally been owned by France’s famous Tallyrand. It was acquired by the United States shortly after WWII as the headquarters for administering the Marshall Plan. Except for the dutiful Marine guards, the spacious reception rooms were more Tallyrand than General Marshall. |
 L-R, FDI Asst Executive Director J. T. Barnard, PFA Trustee Pierre Marois and wife Seba at ADA Reception We proceeded through the reception line renewing acquaintances with the ADA Officers and were greeted by International Trustee Pierre Marois and Seba. (Pierre owns Paris.) Many PFA Fellows were there and helped us with introductions, such as FDI Committee officer, our own Kathryn Kell, and Mexico Chair Ernesto Acuna who introduced us to the PFA section officers from Spain. Our newest Fellow, inducted in Belgium only a few days before, Dr. Shulman, formally introduced us to FDI Counselor Michele Arden.  L-R, New Belgium Fellow Dr. Schulman with FDI Counselor Michele Arden from Belgium |
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FDI
by Editor James Brophy |
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FDI by Editor James Brophy The Federation of Dentistry International was organized at the Third International Dental Congress held in Paris in 1900. On 15 August 1900, Dr. Charles Godon of Paris (a PFA Hall of Fame honoree) laid the groundwork for the FDI. Today, during its centennial year, FDI is a federation of national dental associations in 129 countries with 28 international affiliate members, of which PFA is one, and 17,000 members, of which your editor is one. FDI has official status with the United Nations and with the World Health Organization. Its objectives are to represent the dental profession on a voluntary, non-governmental, international basis. The organization is to arrange a World Dental Congress (usually during the regular meeting of the host country’s dental association) to advance international programs that promote oral and general health of the world’s population while elevating the status of our profession. Their mission is defined in four statements:
The FDI organizational structure consists of Executive Officers and a Council at the head of their annual General Assembly. The General Assembly consists of Member Associations, Affiliate Member Associations (like ours), Regional Organizations, WHO, and international standardization organizations. Along with the Commissions, the projects, and committees, this comprises their World Dental Parliament. |
This loose confederation of dental associations suffers from two main problems—finances and that the large dental associations are wary to cede their authority to a higher organization like FDI. FDI does unite the world’s dental groups in their national goals of improving the public health and elevating the profession. But to do this effectively, it must deal with rival dental associations within the same country, and in the case of emerging third world countries, no dental organization at all. Its effectiveness is limited by the money commitment made to its organization. To run the $5-million to $6-million organization, FDI depends on the goodwill of its member associations, the desire of individual dentists to pay another dental organizational fee (if they can), and the benefice of the world’s dental trade industry. On the other hand, their ability to evidence and distribute the latest in scientific research enlists the finest in the world’s dental educational community to make their global impact. This is evolving into a world dental standard authority. FDI stands on the brink in history to move forward to secure its position as a definitive global representative of our profession, or languish as a weak federation of national dental sovereignties. To move forward would take more than just the common ground of promoting world dental health. It will take strong FDI leadership and the courage of the major national dental associations to do it. The time has come, as the world grows smaller, to recognize and to serve the needs of the world’s population. FDI is the organization in place, right now, that can do it ... if they can overcome the dental politics of the moment. The answer is simple, but the remedy is difficult. The major dental organizations of the world must cede authoritative recognition to FDI in exchange for adequate representation. This ceded authority needs to include adequate funding to free FDI from financial constraints and reprisals. The FDI, in turn, must form a committee that can help developing countries to form their own national dental associations adequately representing their dentists. The stronger the member associations make FDI, the more able it is to withstand the attack of dental politics and governmental control. But in achieving this goal, FDI will better be able to carry out its missions. To get there from here, we need to stop paying lip service to the lofty goals and put our funding where it will actually serve the needs of the world’s dental population. |
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| Table of Contents - MARCH / APRIL, 2001 |
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|
Japan Dental Association Friday-Sunday
|
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| Central Office Reports |
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| Foundation News | ||||
| CALENDAR |
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| General Assembly A | Section News | |||
| ADA Reception | Section News continued | |||
| go to Page 1 — Page 2 — Page3 — Page 4 | ||||
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