Member Societies elect Professor Daniela Filipescu of Romania and Dr Carolina Haylock of Honduras as WFSA President and President-Elect.
Singapore, 7 March 2024 – For the first time, the world’s umbrella body of national societies of anaesthesiologists – the specialist physicians who look after patients before, during and after anaesthesia – will be led by two women.
The WFSA General Assembly has elected its first President from Eastern Europe and the first woman President-Elect from the Americas. On Sunday this week, Member Societies from 150 countries voted overwhelmingly to elect Professor Daniela Filipescu of Romania and Dr Carolina Haylock Loor of Honduras to the positions of President and President-Elect. The duo formally took over the leadership of WFSA on Thursday 7 March upon the close of the 18th World Congress of Anaesthesiologists in Singapore.
Both women are trailblazers in their respective countries: Professor Filipescu was the first Romanian to hold the European Diploma of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (EDAIC) (1993) and contributed to the implementation of the European Curriculum of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (2007) and of the EDAIC examination into the national specialist examination (2010) in Romania. As a cardiac anaesthesia and intensive care specialist, she set up the first blood conservation programme in Bucharest (2002) and the first patient blood management national guidelines in Romania (2018). Dr Haylock Loor is an anaesthesiologist, critical care physician and pain medicine specialist who started the first Interventional Pain Unit and pain medicine training programme in Honduras in 1993. They follow in the august footsteps of three previous female Presidents of the organisation, making WFSA unique within international medical associations.
‘During the next two years we will highlight the pivotal role of anaesthesiologists worldwide emphasizing leadership and resiliency and advocating for safe, affordable, and timely anaesthesia provision for everyone, thereby improving patient care’, explained Dr Haylock Loor. Professor Filipescu added ‘Together we will make anaesthesiology more attractive for professionals and anaesthesiologists more visible beyond the operating room.’
WFSA Member Societies also elected new members of the WFSA Board, Council and Committees.
