In April, the Organization for Safety and Asepsis Procedures (OSAP) joined leaders in dental-school infection control and instrument management from prestigious Latin American academic institutions for the 2nd Infection Control and Instrument Management Symposium. The meeting was held in Costa Rica's beautiful and historic capital city, San Jose.
Co-sponsored by OSAP corporate members Hu-Friedy, Midmark, and Sultan Chemists, the meeting featured presentations by noted experts from Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, and Spain as well as by Shannon Mills, DDS, OSAP 2001-02 chairman; OSAP Foundation Board member Enrique Acosta-Gio, DDS, PhD; and OSAP founding member John Molinari, PhD, who was the symposium's keynote speaker. Dr. Acosta-Gio, a member of the faculty of the National University of Mexico, also delivered a well-received presentation on dental infection control issues in Latin America.
Among the highlights of the symposium, attendees visited three Costa Rican dental schools: the University of Costa Rica, the Latin University of Costa Rica, and the Latin American University of Science and Technology. At each institution, symposium participants viewed infection control and instrument management procedures first-hand and met with each school's deans and senior faculty members. As part of the symposium program, Dr. Mills and Dr. Acosta-Gio administered an OSAP survey of the opinion leaders present to gauge perception of infection control practices and policy in each of the countries represented. As Dr. Mills noted, such information will be helpful as OSAP and its foundation expand outreach activities in the region.
Symposium attendees were invited to become OSAP members, and opportunities to establish continuing dialogue about infection control and safety throughout the Americas were discussed.
The multinational symposium included attendees from Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela.
Participation in the Costa Rican symposium is just one of OSAP's international activities. The organization is working with the National University of Mexico to sponsor a Spanish-language diploma course on infection control in Mexico City September 23-October 4. In conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), OSAP has prepared the Travelers Guide to Safe Dental Care to help globetrotters avoid unnecessary risks if the need for emergency dental treatment should arise. The group also is hosting a series of CDC-supported Global Summits on Dental Infection Control and Safety to identify and address challenges to its mission of "safe dental care everywhere."
