Page 4 - Aspire April -2023 Vol 8 / Issue 2

PRESIDENT’S REPORT: WHAT WE CAN
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future economic prosperity and social well-being of countries around the world, and particularly in Southeast Asia.
The latest demonstration of the demographic crisis is in South Korea with data released in February 2023 showing that the birth rate in that country had plunged to a record low.
The Japanese Government has also warned that population decline there is taking the country to the brink of social dysfunction.
In September, the ASPIRE Congress in Adelaide will address the dramatic fall in human fertility through the opening lecture by respected reproductive biologist, Professor John Aitken.
This edition of our newsletter provides a preview of Professor Aitken’s views on the causes of the free fall of total fertility rates along with suggested responses necessary to ensure population levels are sustained.
His lecture will motivate ASPIRE members as reproductive specialists across various disciplines to ask what they can do to help arrest this decline.
One measure that we can jointly adopt is to advocate on behalf of our patients to make assisted reproduction more accessible, easier and affordable. For some couples experiencing infertility, IVF may not be the answer and simpler treatments may help them to achieve their hopes of having children.
We must maximise public awareness of how the fertility window closes as women advance into their thirties and the need to consider fertility preservation measures. We should also focus on training of reproductive surgeons to maximise the preservation of reproductive function during surgery of the ovary, fallopian tube, uterus and endometrium.
Professor Aitken’s presentation at the ASPIRE Congress is timely and another reason to attend the event at the Adelaide Convention Centre from 7 to 10 September.
The Local Organising Committee led by Professor Louise Hull and the Scientific Committee chaired by Professor Budi Wiweko have attracted outstanding international speakers and developed a compelling program relevant to every discipline within ASPIRE.
I urge members to set the dates aside to attend the 12th ASPIRE Congress in Adelaide, the first face-to-face gathering since the pre-COVID Congress in Hong Kong
in 2019.
Professor Tin-Chiu Li
Experts in their fields who are committed to advancing our knowledge base and global status in assisted reproduction
ASPIRE Committees
This edition of our newsletter also profiles the various functions and objectives of the ASPIRE Committees and their contribution to our expanding membership, quality education and accreditation programs along with our focus on scientific and clinical excellence and external relations across the region and beyond.
Members of our committees are hard working experts in their fields who are committed to advancing ASPIRE’s knowledge base and global status in assisted reproduction. On behalf of all members, I thank them for their outstanding work and the opportunities they are presenting to share knowledge and skills.
Population decline is casting a dark shadow over the