World Council of Enterostomal Therapists (WCET) Congress

For over 30 years the biennial WCET Congress has played an important role in the development of the WCET.

The WCET Congress enables the WCET to address membership needs by providing an international venue for Enterostomal Therapy nurses to present and discuss clinical issues including new treatments and techniques. It also provides a venue for industry to present new products, enabling attendees to see the most up-to-date tools.

The first forum was held in Milan in 1978. At the time of the second conference, which was held in Düsseldorf in 1979, the WCET membership had increased to over 130 members, representing 17 countries.

The third annual WCET Congress was held in Cleveland, Ohio, USA in 1980. There were 300 delegates from 20 countries in attendance, prompting Norma N Gill, our founder, to exclaim "there’s no stopping now”.

At the most recent WCET Congress held in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2008, there were 1296 attendees from 47 countries

Since 1982, the WCET has held a congress biennially. The congress has been held in a variety of locations across the globe, always with the intent of providing access to the WCET in surroundings that provide an environment for discussion, debate and education.

Past WCET Congresses

To date the WCET congresses have taken place in:

• 1978 Milan, Italy
• 1979 Düsseldorf, Germany
• 1980 Cleveland, Ohio, USA
• 1982 Munich, Germany
• 1984 Transkei, Southern Africa
• 1986 Perth, Australia
• 1988 Gothenburg, Sweden
• 1990 Toronto, Canada
• 1992 Lyon, France
• 1994 Yokohama, Japan
• 1996 Jerusalem, Israel
• 1998 Brighton, England
• 2000 Singapore
• 2002 Florence, Italy
• 2004 Florianopolis, Brazil
• 2006 Hong Kong, China
• 2008 Ljubljana, Slovenia