History
In 1996 the Benelux Association of Bariatric Surgeons was founded to unite specialists from the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg with a special interest in the surgical treatment of obesity. Due to the exponentially growing interest in the field of bariatric surgery, a Belgian organisation was founded in oktober 2005 under the name "Section of Obesity Surgery Belgium" or SOSB, and the BABS structure was kept as the liaison with the IFSO. The names of the original founders were J. Closset, A. De Roover, B. De Waele, A. D'Hoore, B. DIllemans, M. Legrand, L. Lemmens, L. Hendrickx, D. Herman, J. Himpens, G. Hubens, M. Miserez, G. Vander Velpen and E. Van Vyve. The first chairman was Piet Pattyn.
Further evolution in the field of bariatric surgery revealed the important role of this type of surgery on the control of metabolic disorders like diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnoea and the name of the society was changed to "Belgian Section of Obesity and Metabolic Surgery" or BeSOMS. Meanwhile, the BeSOMS is a full section of the Belgian Royal Society of Surgery (RBSS) and has organised numerous congresse, symposia, workshops and other scientific meetings in Belgium and abroad.
Upcoming Meetings & News
- Bruno Dillemans (President)
- Denis Pitot (Vice-president)
- Luc Lemmens (Treasurer)
- Jean Closset
- Justine Desmet
- Kurt Devroe
- Jean Marc Gillardin
- Jacques Himpens
- Pierre Hourlay
- Laurent Kohnen
- Jean-Philippe Magema
- Matthias Lannoo
- Marc-Julien Legrand
- Julien Munck (webmaster)
- Benoit Navez
- Jody Valk
- Donald Van Der Franenen
Documents