IPWSO International Conference

This was the 5th International PWS Conference held in Christchurch the 9-12th of April, 2004. The theme for this conference was "Strengthening Families to Meet the Challenges and Reap the Rewards" and we found the focus was truly on meeting the needs of families who deal with PWS on a daily basis.

With so many nations represented both attendees and speakers, there was a wide variety of ideas expressed. Unlike North America where we tend to be on the cutting edge, there were nations represented that may have had only one or two doctors in the entire country who have any knowledge of PWS.

It was also interesting to see what governments offered depending on the nation. In Norway for instance, you can get just about anything you want through their socialized medical. Of course, a nation who's population is smaller then San Francisco and it pretty much Aryan with almost zero emigrants and who are rich from oil have a distinct advantage.

The children's program was quite small but they seemed to have a good time and the new friendships we made were great. This was a wonderful experience that we are glad to have participated in.